JAMAICA  BAY 


IMPROVEMENT 


A  NEW  GATEWAY  TO 
AMERICA 

What  the  Plans  are  and  what 
Eifect  this  Improvement  will 
have  on  New  York's  Commerce 


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OFFICERS  and  DIRECTORS  of  the  EAOLE  WAREHOUSE  AND  STORAGE  COMPANY 

OFFICERS 

SETH  L.  KEENEY,  President  JOHN  E.  CASSIDY,  Vice-President 

HERBERT  F.  GUNNISON,  Secretary  and  Treasurer 

DIRECTORS 

Andrew  D.  Bajbd         Julian  D.  Faikchild      William  Hester  James  McGovern 

John  E.  Cassidy  Robert  Furey       '        Beth  L.  Keeney  John  McNamee 

Daniel  J.  Creem  Herbert  F.  Gonnison     T.  M.  Lloyd  D.  H.  Valentine 

Wm.  M.  Van  Anden 
Manager  John  E.  Cassidy 


***** 


JAMAICA  BAY 
IMPROVEMENT 


A  New  Gateway  to  America 


What  the  Plans  Are  and  What  Effect 
This  Improvement  Will  Have  on 
New  York's  Commerce. 


OFFICE  OF  PUBLICATION: 
EAGLE  BUILDING,  BROOKLYN.  NEW  YORK 

Entered  at  the  Brooklyn-New  York  Post  Office  as  second-class  matter.    VOL.  XXV,  No.  3  of  the 
Eagle  Library.    Serial  No.  157,  March,  1910.    Trademark,  "Eagle  Library,"  registered. 
Yearly  subscription,  $1.00.   Almanac  Number,  50  cents. 


2 


'JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


THE  BAY  DREDGING 

CONTRACTING  CO., 

of  215  Montague  St.,  has  been  doing 
work  around  Jamaica  Bay  for  over  three 
years.  It  has  three  of  the  largest  and 
most  up-to-date  Dredges  in  the  East, 
with  a  capacity  of  400,000  cubic  yards 
a  month. 

BAY  DREDGING  CONTRACTING  CO. 

215  Montague  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.Y. 


CONTENTS 


Page. 

Preface   5 

The  New  Harbor  at  Jamaica  Bay,  by  Chas.  B. 
Lav    7 

Why  Jamaica  Bay  Should  Be  Improved,  by 
Henry  A.  Meyer    11 

History  of  Jamaica  Bay,  by  Noyes  F.  Palmer 
and  Frederick  Van  Wyck   13 

Jamaica  Bay  Needs  30-Foot  Channel,  by  Calvin 
Tomkins    14 

Remarks  Before  the  Barge  Canal  Terminal  Com- 
mission, by  N.  B.  Killmer   15 

The  Value  of  Improving  Jamaica  Bay  Now,  by 
Nathaniel  H.  Levi   18 


Page. 

The  Building  of  Jamaica  Bay  Harbor,  by  Fred- 
erick Boyd  Stevenson   19 

One  Thousand  Ton  Barge  Terminal: 
By  Elbridge  G.  Snow   21 

The  Influence  of  the  Jamaica  Bay  Improvement 
on  Real  Estate,  by  Elwin  S.  Piper   22 

Chapter  568,  Laws  of  New  York   22 

Extracts  from  Majority  Report,  Jamaica  Bay 
Commission    23 

Government  Map  of  Jamaica  Bay  24,  25 

Extracts  from  Minority  Report,  Jamaica  Bay 
Commission    31 


Accept  the  Eagle's  Invitatioh 

to  come  and  visit  its  Information  Bureaus  in  Brooklyn 
or  New  York.  Particulars  gladly  given  regarding  any 
resort.  The  most  splendid  system  in  the  world.  Branches 
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for  the  traveler. 


GO 


GET  A  EUEOPEAN  RESORT  DIRECTORY 
AND  PARIS  GUIDE 
New  Editions  Out  in  May 


JAMAICA  BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


Some  Days  from  Now 

the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  will  begin  operating 
between  Manhattan  and  Jamaica.  They  are  now 
spending  millions  of  dollars  on  their  new  terminal 
at  Jamaica,  and  Jamaica  Bay  will  soon  be  the 
largest  harbor  in  the  world. 

SOUTH  OZONE 
PARK 

is  ideally  located  between  these  two  new  improve- 
ments and  is  intersected  by  the  Rockaway  Plank 
Road,  which  is  being  widened  to  a  1 50  foot  boule- 
vard running  from  Brooklyn  City  Line  to  the  Rocka- 
ways.  This  readily  proves  that  lots  at  South  Ozone 
Park  are  the  very  best  investment  on  the  market. 
Lots  can  be  bought  for  $375  and  upward  on  easy 
terms  of  $9  down  and  $1  per  week. 

Come  out  and  see  what  bargains  can  be  snapped 
up  at  South  Ozone  Park,  only  45  minutes  from  Park 
Row.  Take  Fulton  Street  City  Line  "  L"  train  to 
end  of  road,  then  Freeport  trolley  to  grounds.  Or 
write  for  booklet  of  lots  and  houses. 

DAVID  P.  LEAHY  REALTY  CO. 

22  Court  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


JAMAICA  BAY  IMPROVEMENT 


The  question  of  the  Jamaica  Bay  Improvement  is  one  which  has  been  discussed  pro  and  con  for  many 
years.  Some  of  New  York's  most  influential  citizens  have  been,  and  are,  very  enthusiastic  over  the 
project.  Who  is  the  father  of  the  plan  is  not  a  settled  question.  A  number  of  citizens  living  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Jamaica  Bay  suggested  a  plan  of  improvement  years  ago.  Frederick  Wygant,  a 
lawyer,  of  Manhattan,  has  been  interested  in  the  project  for  many  years.  Probably  most  credit  is 
due,  however,  to  Edward  M.  Grout  for  the  beginning  of  a  real  agitation.  He  was  the  first  to  put 
before  the  government  a  definite  and  tangible  proposition.  Since  then,  organizations  have  been  effected 
to  promote  legislation  and  educational  campaigns.  Other  men  and  organizations  have  been  just  as  persistent 
in  claiming  that  the  scheme  is  impossible  of  successful  solution.  However,  the  commission  appointed  by 
the  Mayor  has  made  a  thorough  investigation,  and,  although  there  is  both  a  majority  and  a  minority  report, 
all  members  of  the  commission  agree  that  Jamaica  Bay  should  be  developed  as  a  seaport. 

With  the  appropriation  by  the  United  States  Government  of  $225,000  to  be  spent  annually 
for  a  number  of  years,  providing  New  York  City  does  its  part,  enthusiasm  for  the  project  has 
been  considerably  enhanced.  It  is  practically  certain  that  the  city  will  appropriate  $1,000,000  for  the 
preliminary  work,  and  so  put  its  stamp  of  approval  on  the  favorable  reports  of  the  commission.  The  city 
appropriation  will,  in  the  first  instance,  be  devoted  to  the  survey  work  involved  in  the  laying  out  and 
planning  of  what  promises  to  be  the  greatest  harbor  that  has  ever  been  projected.  Necessarily,  it  will  be  a 
work  of  some  years,  but,  when  completed,  a  revolution  of  the  Port  of  New  York  will  have  been  wrought. 
The  passages  of  freight  steamers  will  be  shortened  some  hours  and  the  inconveniences:  of  the  present  ter- 
minals of  the  port  will  be  overcome,  while  the  facilities  for  ocean  traffic  will  be  greatly  improved. 
Whether  the  passenger  steamers  will  find  their  dockage  there  is  a  question  which  must  be  left  to  de- 
velopment. 

What  the  influence  on  the  boroughs  of  Brooklyn  and  Queens,  of  the  completed  work,  will  be  can 
hardly  be  overestimated.  It  is  quite  clear  that  there  will  be  great  changes  in  real  estate  values.  Proper- 
ties of  Brooklyn  now  held  for  future  development  will  naturally  be  enhanced  in  values.  Brooklyn  will 
lose  the  distinction  she  has  so  long  held  as  a  city  and  a  borough  of  being  a  city  of  churches  and  homes.  She 
will  become  as  great  a  part,  commercially,  of  Greater  New  York  as  is  Manhattan.  Every  citizen  of  the 
greater  city  will  share  in  the  benefits  of  this  improvement,  for  it  will  mean  that  commerce  which  now 
cannot  find  room  for  its  activities  in  the  inadequate  facilities  of  New  York's  docks  and  wharves  will  find 
room  for  enlarging  its  operations. 

The  Chelsea  Improvement  is  a  big  undertaking,  but  compared  to  the  Jamaica  Bay  Improvement  it  is 
a  pigmy.  Few  citizens  of  New  York  realize— in  fact,  cannot  realize  in  this  preliminary  stage — the  vast- 
ness  of  this  undertaking. 


6 


JAMAICA    BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


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BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 


The  New  Harbor  at  Jamaica  Bay 


A  Legislative  History  of -the  Ptoject,  by  Hon.  Charles  B.  Law,  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 

February  14»  1910. 


Mr.  Chairman— I  desire  to  avail  myself 
of  the  privilege  accorded  me  by  unani- 
mous consent  of  the  House  to  insert  in 
the  Congressional  Record  a  statement 
of  the  genesis,  history  and  status  of  the 
project  to  create  a  harbor  in  Jamaica 
Bay,  New  York,  for  which  the  rivers  and 
harbors  bill,  now  up  for  consideration 
in  the  House,  provides  an  appropriation 
of  $250,500.  I  wish  to  dispel,  if  I  can, 
the  erroneous  impression  that  seems  to 
hav#  prevailed  on  the  part  of  some  that 
the  project  is  not  for  the  immediate  fu- 
ture, but  for  coming  generations.  I  ex- 
pect to  be  able  to  show  to  the  satisfac- 
tion ot  those  interested  in  the  matter 
that  if  this  project  receives  the  sup- 
port and  co-operation  of  the  City  of 
N'ew  York,  to  which  it  is  entitled  and 
upon  which  Its  success  depends,  there 
is  no  practical  reason  that  can  be  assign- 
ed why  work  cannot  be  actually  com- 
menced in  xhe  year  1910. 

It  Is  perhaps  pertinent  at  this  point  to 
say  ft  few  words  concerning  the  physi- 
cal characteristics  of  Jamaica  Bay  and 
its  geographical  .relation  to  the  City  of 
New  York.  The  bay  measures  about 
6ix  miles  east  and  west  and  about  four 
miles  north  and  south.  It  is  connected  | 
with  the  ocean  by  Rockaway  Inlet  and 
constitutes  a  perfectly  sheltered  harbor. 
It  hat  a  water  surface  of  approximately 
25  square  miles  with  an  entrance  less 
than  half  a  mile  wide.  Its  waters  are 
generally  shallow  but  penetrated  by  nat- 
ural channels  radiating  from  the  entrance 
toward  various  points  on  the  shore. 
The  expense  of  necessary  dredging  will 
be  at  a  minimum  because  the  material 
to  be  dredged  will  be  principally  sand 
and  gravel  and  some  clay.  The  reports 
of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey 
show  that  no  rock  is  to  be  encountered. 
The  entrance  to  the  Bay  is  about  seven 
miles  east  of  the  Narrows  and  is  readily 
accessible  either  from  the  ocean  or  from 
New  York  Bay.  The  New  York  Connect- 
ing Railroad  skirts  the  shores  of  the  bay 
and  will  connect  with  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  to  the  West  and  with  the  New 
York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford  and  the 
New  York  Central  Railroads  to  the 
North  and  East.  The  bay  occupies  the 
southeastern  portion  of  Greater  New 
York  and  comprises  mors  than  one-fourth 
of  the  combined  areas  of  the  Boroughs  | 
of  Brooklyn  and  Queens.  It  is  sur-  I 
rounded  by  a  vast  territory  of  unim- 
proved land  and  marsh  land  which  can  be 
acquired  by  the  City  of  New  York  and 
reclaimed  by  the  dredged  material  from 
the  channels  proposed  to  be  constructed. 
According  to  the  estimate  of  Hon.  Ed- 
ward M.  Grout,  former  Controller  of  the 
City  of  New  York.  at  least  sixteen 
thousand  acres  of  valuable  land  can  be 
made  by  the  City  of  New  York,  the  value 
of  which  will  be  greater  than  the  total 
cost  of  the  improvement  to  the  city.  It 
is  important  at  this  point  that  we  con- 
sider the  fact*  and  circumstances  making 


necessary  further  development  and  ex- 
tension of  the  New  York  water  front.  An 
absolute  need  of  increased  water  front 
and  dockage  facilities  in  and  about  the 
shores  of  New  York  has  arisen,  caused 
by  the  marvelous  growth  of  that  city 
during  the  past  few  years  and  the  tre- 
mendous increase  in  the  commerce  of  its 
port.  According  to  the  reports  of  the 
census  taken  in  the  year  1890,  the  present 
City  of  New  York  then  had  a  population 
or  2.507.414.  The  census  taken  in  the 
year  1900.  shows  a*net  increase  of  popula- 
tion during  the  ten  vears  from  1S90  to 
1900  of  92S.788.  In  ten  years  time  this 
city  added  to  its  population  more  resi- 


Charles  B.  Law. 


dents  than  were  in  the  year  1900  to  be 
found  in  any  other  city  in  the  United 
States,  save  Chicago  and  Philadelphia. 
The  report  of  the  New  York  State  Census, 
taken  in  1905.  shows  a  total  population 
for  the  City  of  New  York  in  that  year  of 
4,013,781,  or  a  net  increase  of  576,579 
over  the  population  of  1900.  Again  in 
Ave  years  this  city  has  added  to  its  pop- 
ulation more  residents  than  in  the  year 
1900  were  to  be  found  in  any  other  city 
of  the  United  States,  save  Chicago  and 
Philadelphia. 

The  increase  in  commerce  of  the  Port 
of  New  York  has  kept  pace  with  its  tre- 
mendous strides  in  population.  During 
the.  thirty  years  between  1875"  and  1005, 
tbe  value  of  the  imports  and  exports  en- 
tered and  cleared  at  the  Port  of  New 
York  practically  doubled  while  the  ton- 
nage in  foreign  trade  alone  increased  at  , 
a  still  greater  rate.  The  total  value  of  J 
manufactured  products  in  New  York  and 
Brooklyn  in  1905  showed  a  net  increase  | 
since  the  year  1880  of  more  than  100  per  | 


cent.  In  his  report  to  the  chief  of  en- 
gineers, United  States  Army,  Colonel 
John  G.  D.  Knight,  who  had  in  charge 
the  government  surveys  of  Jamaica 
Bay,  in  discussing  the  future  tonnage  at 
the  Port  of  New  York,  reaches  his  con- 
clusion, after  exhaustive  study,  in  the 
following  language: 

"We  can  say  that  this  tonnage  will 
greatly  increase  and  that  it  is  thought 
that  in  ten  years  available  water  front 
for  wharfage  around  Manhattan  and  in 
upper  New  York  Bay  will  be  exhausted. 
Provision  for  additional  frontage  must 
be  made,  which  provision  should  be  on 
New  York  Bay,  if  practicable,  and  Ja- 
maica Bay  affords  the  only  site  for  such 
addition." 

It  was  only  five  years  ago  that  this 
scheme  to  create  a  harbor  in  Jamaica 
Bay  was  regarded  by  the  vast  majority 
of  people  as  a  mere  dream  so  far  as  the 
present  generation  is  concerned.  It  was 
generally  believed  that  if  the  thing  was 
done,  it  would  be  in  the  far  distant  future 
and  for  the  use  of  future  generations, 
and  yet,  It  has  happened  during  that  five 
years  period  of  time  such  practical  prog- 
ress has  been  made  that  now  the  initial 
appropriation  of  $250,500  to  commence 
actual  work  is  being  made-  by  Congress 
and  it  is  confidently  believed  that  the 
City  of  New  York  will  shortly  make  its 
initial  appropriation  of  $1,000,000  for 
the  same  purpose. 

I  believe  that,  the  people  of  Brook- 
lyn will  be  interested  to  know  the  steps 
by  whirh  this  progress  has  been  achieved 
and  the  practical  ideas  that  have  pre- 
vRiled  in  bringing  about  the  result,  and 
the  purpose  of  this  statement  is  mainly 
to  give  a  concise  history  of  the  improve- 
ment. 

After  a  most  painstaking  study  and  in- 
vestigation of  the  subject  I  became  con- 
vinced that  the  primary  condition  of  suc- 
cess rested  in  a  plan  of  co-operation  as 
between  the  United  States  government 
nnd  the  City  of  New  York.  The  reason 
for  the  necessity  of  such  co-operation 
will  be  apparent  upon  considering  the 
practical  situation.  It  was  obvious  that 
the  United  States  would  not  expend  vast 
sums  of  money  in  dredging  channels  un- 
less the  general  government  could  be  as- 
sured that  the  City  of  New  York  would 
construct  the  docks  and  other  appurte- 
nances necessary  to  make  said  channels 
available  for  commerce.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  City  of  New  York  would  not.  of 
course,  construct  such  docks  and  piers 
without  assurance  that  the  United  StateB 
would  dredge  the  channels  necessary  to 
make  them  available  for  use.  Hence  was 
the  absolute  necessity  of  providing  for 
a  co-operative  plan.  Accordingly,  in  the 
winter  of  1907,  there  was  inserted  in  the 
rivers  and  harbors  act  of  that  year  a 
provision  directing  the  Secretary  of  War 
to  cause  a  preliminary  examination  or 
survey  to  be  made  of: 

"The  waters  of  Jamaica  Bay,  including 
entrance  to  said  bay  at  Rockaway  Inlet, 
and  those  waters  having  their  outlet  in 
Dead  Horse  Tnlet,  with  a  view  to  framing 
a  plan  for  their  improvement  and  rec- 
ommending the  order  of  such  improve- 
ment with  the  cost  thereof,  and  to  recom- 
mend the  proportion  of  such  cost  to  be 
borne  by  the  city  of  New  York;  and  the 


8 


JAMAICA    BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


Secretary  of  War  is  hereby  requested 
to  confer  and  co-operate  with  the  Com- 
missioner of  Docks. -and  Ferries  of  the 
city  of  New  York,  or  with  any  other  duly 
authorized  agen(s.  officers  or  representa- 
tives of  the  city  of  New  "York,  and  with 
any  commission  of  engineers  appointed, 
or  who  shall  hereafter  be  appointed,  to 
survey  or  examine  said  bay  and  to  recom- 
mend to  the  city  of  New  York  plans  for 
the  improvemen'  of  said  Jamaica  Bay  or 
the  lands  in  and  about  said  bay." 

After  drafting  this  provision  and  be- 
fore it  was  submitted  to  the  Committee 
on  Rivers  and  Harbors  of  the  House  of 
Representatives.  I  submitted  a  copy  of 
the  draft  to  the  members  of  the  Jamaica 
Bay  Improvement  Commission,  to  which 
I  shall  make  further  reference  hereafter, 
and  in  turn  accompanied  by  two  mem- 
bers of  this  commission,  I  called  upon 
Mayor  McClellan  of  New  York  and  sub- 
mitted it  to  him  for  his  approval.  At  the 
close  of  this  interview  the  Mayor  heartily 
approved  the  provision,  but  expressed 
doubt  as  to  the  possibility  of  getting  it 
enacted  into  law.  It  was.  however,  in- 
corporated in  the  rivers  and  harbors  bill 
which  was  passed  and  approved  by  the 
President  March  2.  1907. 

It  is  unquestionably  true  that  the 
genesis  of  the  movement,  so  far  as  defi- 
nite and  practical  effort  is  concerned,  is 
found  in  a  communication  on  the  subject 
addressed  to  the  commissioner  of  the 
sinking  fund  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
dated  March  17.  1905.  "  y  Edward  M. 
Grout,  then  Controller  of  the  city  of  New 
York.  The  plans  now  under  considera- 
tion for  the  improvement  of  Jamaica  Bay 
follow  the  general  recommendations  con- 
tained in  Mr.  Grout's  communication  to 
rather  a  remarkable  degree.  Mr.  Grout's 
communication  closes  with  the  following 
recommendation : 

"I.  therefore,  request  your  considera- 
tion of  the  appointment  of  a  commission 
to  recommend  plans  for  the  development 
of  the  water  front  of  the  city  outside  of 
Manhattan  Island,  and  especially  of  the 
development  of  Jamaica  Bay." 

Following  the  recommendation  of  Mr. 
Grout,  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Appor- 
tionment of  the  city  of  New  York,  on 
March  2.  1906.  passed  a  resolution  au- 
thorizing the  appointment  by  the  Mayor 
of  a' commission  of  engineers  for  the  pur- 
pose of  reporting  upon  the  general  im- 
provement and  development  of  Jamaica 
Bay  in  the  boroughs  of  Brooklyn  and 
Queens,  and  also  upon  the  condition  of 
the  water  front  of  the  city  of  New  York 
other  than  that  of  Manhattan  Island. 
Pursuant  to  this  resolution,  on  April  26. 

1906.  the  Mayor  appointed  Philip  P.  Far- 
ley.. William  G.  Ford  and  John  J  Mc- 
Laughlin to  compose  the  Jamaica  Bay 
Improvement  Commission.     Oh  May  31. 

1907,  the  said  commirsion  submitted  to 
the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportion- 
ment of  the  city  of  New  York  a  majority 
report,  signed  by  Mr.  Farley  and  Mr. 
McLaughlin,  and  a  minority  report  signed 
by  Mr.  Ford.  These  reports  were  made 
prior  to  any  conference  with  the  Secre- 
tary of  War.  as  provided  in  the  said  pro- 
vision of  the  rivers  and  harbors  act  of 
March  2..  1907.  The  majority  report  rec- 
ommended a  plan  estimated  to  cost  ap- 
proximately $14,000,000;  the  minority  re- 
port recommended  a  more  elaborate  plan, 
estimated  to  cost  approximately  $47,000.- 
000.  These  reports  were  based  largely 
upon  the  assumption  that  the  city  of 
New  York  would  make  the  improvement 
without  federal  aid,  and  have  since  been 
superseded  by  the  reports  of  the  same 
commission  submitted  December  27.  1909. 
The  life  of  the  Jamaica  Bay  Improvement 
Commission  expired  by  limitation  on 
June  1,  1907.  Imnediately  thereafter  and 
under  date  of  June  5,  1907,  I  addressed  the 
following  communication  to  the  Mayor 
of  the  city  of  New  York: 

"Hon.  George  B.  McClellan,  Mayor  of 
the  City  of  New  York.  Borough  Hall, 
New  York. 

"My  Dear  Mr.  Mayor— You  will  prob- 
ably remember   that   la  the   month  of 


January  1  called  upon  you  In  company 
with  William  G.  Ford,  a  member  of  the 
commission  of  engineers  appointed  by 
you  on  behalf  of  me  city,  to  investigate 
the  project  for  the  improvement  of  Ja- 
maica Bay.  and  at  that  time  suDmltled  to 
you  a  proposed  provision  to  be  Inserted 
In  the  river  and  harbor  bill,  providing 
for  a  general  survey  of  Jamaica  Bay  In 
co-operation  with  the  city's  commission 
o£  engineers,  with  a  view  to  framing  a 
plan  to  be  carried  out  jointly  by  the 
city  and  the  Federal  Government.  That 
provision  was  approved  by  you  and  was 
incorporated  in  the  river  and  harbor  bill. 
1  enclose  herewith  a  copy  of  said  bill. 
Said  provision  will  be  found  on  page  47. 

"I  am  informed  tliat  the  city's  com- 
mlsion  I  of  engineers  has  submitted  its 
report  to  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Ap- 
portionment, making  proper  reference 
therein  to  said  provision  of  the  river  and 
harbor  bill. 

"1  am  also  informed  that  the  life  of  the 
city's  commission  of  engineers  expired  on 
June  1,  and  that  no  provision  hag  been 
made  for  the  extension  of  the  life  of 
said  commission,  for  the  purpose  of  co- 
operation and  conference  with  the  gov- 
ernment engineers.  If  the  life  of  the 
commission  is  extended  or  renewed,  I  be- 
lieve there  is  no  doubt  that  a  joint  plan 
can  be  agreed  upon,  and  that  the  Fed- 
eral Government  will  be  prepared  to 
bear  a  considerable  portion  of  the  ex- 
pense. If  the  city's  commission  is  not  con- 
tinued in  existence  and  the  government 
engineers  are  not  afforded  the  oppor- 
tunity to  confer  with  a  commission  rep- 
resenting the  city,  an  adverse  report  on 
the  proposed  survey  will  probably  follow, 
and  1  believe  that  will  mean  a  very  de- 
cided set-back  to  the  proposed  plans. 

"I  am  informed  that  the  proposed  re- 
port of  the  city's  commission  will  come 
up  for  consideration  before  the  Board 
of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  at  its 
meeting  on  Friday  of  the  present  week, 
and  I  believe  a  statement  of  the  situa- 
tion should  be  In  your  hands  prior  to  that 
date. 

"Unfortunately  it  is  impossible  for  me 
to  call  upon  you  personally  before  Fri- 
day, but  1  shall  try  to  do  so  the  early 
part  of  next  week.  I  should  have  called 
this  matter  to  your  attention  before,  but 
I  was  led  to  believe  that  the  life  of  the 
city's  commission  would  be  extended  to 
July  1,  by  act  of  the  Board  of  Estimate 
and  Apportionment.  This  appears  not  to 
have  been  done.    Yours  very  truly, 

"CHARLES  B.  LAW." 

The  Mayor  submitted  the  above  com- 
munication to  the  Board  of  Estimate  and 
Apportionment  at  its  regular  meeting  on 
June  7.  1907,  and  pursuant  to  a  resolution 
then  passed  by  the  board,  the  said  com- 
mission was  reappointed  and  to  its 
original  duties  was  added  that  of  con- 
ferring with  the  Secretary  of  War  rela- 
tive to  the  survey  or  examination  of  Ja- 
maica Bay  and  to  recommend  plans  for  the 
improvement  thereof.  It  fell  to  Colonel 
John  G.  D.  Knight.  Corps  U.  S.  Army 
Engineers,  who  was  then  district  engineer 
in  charge  at  New  York,  to  represent  the 
Secretary  of  War  in  the  conferences  with 
the  Jamaica  Bay  Lmprovement  Commis- 
sion which  began  immediately  after  the 
reappointment  of  the  commission  in  June, 
1907.  and  continued  up  to  the  early  part 
of  the  year  1909.  In  view  of  the  results 
that  have  followed.  I  take  a  natural  pride 
in  teh  fact  that  it  was  my  privilege  to 
present  the  commission  to  the  district 
engineer,  the  representative  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  War.  and  to  inform  him  that 
the  City  of  New  York  had  clothed  the 
commission  with  power  to  represent  it  in 
the  conferences  that  were  to  follow.  The 
conferences  were  had  mainly  with  a  view 
to  agreeing  upon  the  location  of  a  prin- 
cipal channel,  but  also  relative  to  dis- 
tributing secondary  channels  through  the 
collection  of  islands  lying  in  the  central 
portion  of  Jamaica  Bay. 

When  a  general  plan  for  the  improve- 
ment and  the  location  of  channels  had 
been  tentatively  agreed  upon,  the  actual 
surveys   were  commenced  by  the  army 


engineers  In  the  spring  of  1908,  and  were 
finally  completed  late  In  the  fall  of  that 
year.  Under  date  of  January  30,  1909,  the 
district  engineer  submitted  his  report 
based  upon  the  general  agreement  be- 
tween him  and  the  Jamaica  Bay  Improve- 
ment Commission  as  a  result  of  the  con- 
ferences to  which  I  have  alluded.  The 
joint  plan  embraced  an  entrance  channel 
at  Rockaway  Inlet  with  a  first  depth  of 
eighteen  feet  and  width  of  500  feet  and  a 
main  interior  channel  extending  from 
the  southeast  corner  of  Barren  Island 
northerly  and  easterly  skirting  the 
westerly  and  northerly  shores  of  Ja- 
maica Bay  to  Cornell's  Creek  in  Queens 
County,  with  a  first  depth  and  width  to 
be  the  same  as  that  of  the  entrance 
channel.  As  the  needs  of  commerce  may 
require  both  the  entrance  and  interior 
main  .channels  are  to  be  deepened  to  30 
feet.  The  entrance  channel  is  to  have 
an  ultimate  width  of  1.500  feet  and  the 
interior  channel  1,000  feet. 

The  joint  plan  of  Improvement  con- 
templates the  use  of  the  material  dredged 
from  the  main  Interior  channel  to  fill  in 
behind  the  city's  bulkhead,  the  purpose 
being  to  make  valuable  land  for  the  City 
of  New  York,  and  to  save  the  enormous 
expense  that  would  be  Involved  In  tak- 
ing the  dredged  material  out  to  sea.  In 
this  connection  arises  one  of  the  most 
striking  and  ingenious  features  or  the  re- 
port of  Colonel  Knight  to  the  War  De- 
partment, recommending  that  the  dredg- 
ing of  the  main  channel  be  required  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  and  that  the  city 
be  reimbursed  therefore  at  the  rate  of 
10  per  cent,  per  cubic  yard,  which  Is  the 
cost  of  dredging  the  main  channel  as  esti- 
mated by  the  majority  of  the  Jamaica  Bay 
Improvement  Commission.  The  purpose 
of  this  recommendation  was  to  avoid  com- 
plications on  the  part  of  the  City  of  New 
York  with  Government  contractors,  as 
such  complications  would  be  sure  to  arise 
if  an  attempt  were  made  to  co-ordinate 
areas  of  dredging  with  areas  of  All  at 
varying  distances,  each  class  from  the 
other,  the  areas  of  dredging  to  be  In- 
dicated by  the  government,  and  the  areas 
of  fill  to  depend  upon  the  construction 
of  embankments  or  bulkheads  by  the 
city. 

The  report  of  Colonel  Knight  submitted 
to  the  Chief  of  Engineers  on  January  30, 
1909,  was  forthwith  transmitted  to  the 
Board  of  Engineers  for  Rivers  and  Har- 
bors at  Washington.  It  contemplated  an 
expenditure  of  $8,610,050  by  the  govern- 
ment. It  was  considered  at  length  and 
in  detail  at  two  sessions  of  the  said  Board. 
On  February  16.  or  thereabout,  I  learned 
that  the  Board  contemplated  reducing  the 
allowance  to  the  City  of  New  York  for 
the  dredging  of  the  main  interior  chan- 
nel to  5  cents  per  cubic  yard.  This  would 
have  meant  a  loss  to  the  City  of  New 
York  of  approximately  $3,000,000.  I  also 
learned  that  in  accordance  with  the  cub- 
tom  of  the  Board  not  to  make  substantial 
changes  in  a  report  of  a  District  Engineer 
without  giving  parties  interested  an  op- 
portunity to  be  heard,  the  Secretary  of 
the  Board  had  been  instructed  to  com- 
municate with  the  Mayor  of  the  City  of 
New  York,  notifying  him  that  a  hearing 
would  be  given  on  March  2,  1909.  This 
would  have  made  it  impossible  to  secure 
any  legislation  at  that  session  of  Con- 
gress, which  would  adjourn  on  March  4. 
or  only  two  days  later.  Fortunately  the 
letter  had  not  been  mailed,  and  I  suc- 
ceeded in  having  the  date  of  the  hearing 
changed  to  February  23.  Having  se- 
cured this  change  of  date.  I  immediately 
went  to  New  York  and  conferred  with 
city  officials.  The  result  was  that  at  the 
hearing  on  February  23,  the  Mayor  was 
officially  represented  by  Nelson  P. 
Lewis,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Board  of 
Estimate  and  Apportionment,  and  the  Ja- 
maica Bay  Improvement  Commission  was 
represented  by  William  G.  Ford.  The 
result  of  the  very  effective  arguments  of- 
fered by  Mr.  Lewis  and  Mr.  Ford,  was  that 
a  compromise  at  8  cents  per  cubic  yard 
was  reached,  and  a  saving  to  the  City  of 
Nf  -.v  York  of  51.77'1  !»00  was  effect**  A» 


'JAMAICA    BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


9 


modified  by  the  Board  of  Engineers  for 
Rivers  and  Harbors,  the  report  of  the 
War  Department  recommends  that  the 
Federal  Government  shall  ultimately  ex- 
pend upon  the  project,  $7,430,050. 

The  Rivers  and  Harbors  Bill  of  that 
session  of  Congress  (1907)  had  already 
passed  the  House  and  the  last  meeting  of 
the  Committee  on  Commerce  of  the  Senate 
for  the  consideration  of  the  bill  was  held 
February  24.  The  report  of  the  Board 
of  Engineers  for  rivers  and  harbors  was 
not  available  for  inspection  until  the 
morning  of  that  day.  However,  after  in- 
spection of  the  report,  I  was  fortunate 
enough  to  secure  a  hearing  before  the 
Senate  Committee,  and  succeeded  in  per- 
suading them  to  adopt  the  following 
amendment,  which  was  inserted  in  the 
Rivers  and  Harbors  Bill  of  that  year: 

"The  Secretary  of  War  is  hereby  di- 
rected to  report  as  soon  as  he  is  satisfied 
that  the  City  of  New  York  is  prepared  to 
undertake  the  work  to  be  done  by  it  pre- 
liminary to  or  contemporaneous  with  any 
dredging  to  be  done  by  the  United  States 
government  as  recommended  in  the  re- 
port and  plan  of  the  Secretary  of  War 
transmitted  under  date  of  February  twen- 
ty-fifth, nineteen  hundred  and  nine,  for 
the  improvement  of  Jamaica  Bay,  New 
York,  and  its  entrance  at  Rockaway  In- 
let and  Dead  Horse  Inlet." 

The  present  appropriation  of  $250,500  is 
based  upon  the  following  recommenda- 
tion contained  in  the  report  of  the  Board 
of  Engineers  for  Rivers  and  Harbor3: 

"The  Board  further  recommends  that 
the  18-foot  entrance  channel  should  not 
be  dredged  until  the  Secretary  of  War  is 
satisfied  that  the  City  of  New  York  is 
prepared  to  undertake  its  part  of  the 
general  plan  of  improvement  outlined 
aboTe.  The  estimated  cost  of  this  chan- 
nel for  first  development  of  18  feet  is 
$350,500,  and  this  is  the  amount  of  the 
first  appropriation  necessary  under  the 
conditions  cited." 

Immediately  after  the  passage  of  the 
River  and  Harbor  Act  of  March  3,  1909, 
the  field  of  activity  shifted  to  the  state 
capital  at  Albany.  From  time  immemor- 
ial, there  had  existed  a  sharp  dispute,  be- 
tween the  state  and  the  City  of  New  York 
as  to  the  ownership  of  lands  under  water 
in  Jamaica  Bay.  Obviously  the  City  of 
New  York  could  not  safely  proceed  with 
the  dredging  of  the  main  interior  chan- 
nel and  with  the  expenditure  of  millions 
of  dollars  In  the  improvement  until  it 
had  absolute  and  undisputed  title  to  the 
lands  under  water  in  Jamaica  Bay.  The 
settlement  of  this  title  had  been  under 
consideration  for  a  dozen  years  by  the 
corporation  counsel  and  litigation  in  one 
form  or  another  had  been  in  progress  for 
at  least  five  years.  It  was  conceded  that 
the  question  of  the  title  could  not  or 
would  not  be  settled  through  litigation  in 
the  courts  for  many  years  yet  to  come. 
This  meant  the  indefinite  postponement 
of  the  improvement. 

Accordingly,  William  G.  Ford  of  the 
Jamaica  Bay  Improvement  Commission 
drafted  a  measure  to  be  introduced  in 
the  state  legislature  by  which  all  the 
right,  title  and  interest  of  the  state  in  and 
to  lands  under  water  in  Jamaica  Bay 
would  be  ceded  to  the  City  of  New  York. 
I  went  to  Albany  with  Mr.  Ford  and  to- 
gether we  succeeded  in  putting  the  meas- 
ure In  such  shape  as  to  satisfy  the  State 
Land  Office  and  the  Attorney  General.  In 
its  final  shape  it  ceded  the  said  lands 
under  water  to  the  City  of  New  York  for 
the  purpose  of  creating  a  harbor,  but, 
further  provided,  that  the  grant  should 
become  operative  upon  the  government 
making  its  first  appropriation  for  the 
creation  of  the  new  harbor,  or  upon  the 
City  of  New  York  appropriating  and  set- 
ting aside  a  sum,  not  less  than  $1,000,000, 
for  the  same  purpose.  The  bill  was  in- 
troduced in  the  Assembly  by  Assembly- 
man Isaac  Sargent,  whose  name  it  bears, 
and  in  the  Senate  by  Senator  Charles 
Alt.  The  bill  was  passed  with  compara- 
tive ease  in  the  Assembly,  but  in  the 
Senate  great  difficulty  was  experienced 
because  of  the  constant  interference  of 
private  interests  owning   upland  about 


Jamaica  Bay  and  who  wanted  to  get 
grants  of  land  under  water  in  front  of 
their  upland  property.  Amendments 
were  twice  injected  into  the  bill  in  this 
manner.  These  amendments  were  not  of 
themselves  serious  in  their  character,  as 
they  constituted  only  slight  exceptions  to 
the  operation  of  the  bill,  but  they  were 
serious  in  obstructing  the  passage  of  the 
bill.  The  last  amendment  was  thus  in- 
jected into  the  bill  on  Tuesday  of  the  last 
week  of  the  session.  As  the  Legislature 
adjourned  on  Friday  and  the  reprinted 
bill  had  to  lie  on  the  desks  three  legis- 
lative days  before  passage  unless  the 
Governor  interfered  with  an  emergency 
message,  it  seemed  at  that  time  unlikely 
that  the  bill  would  succeed.  However, 
on  the  following  day,  we  appealed  to 
Governor  Hughes  for  his  assistance.  An 
emergency  message  from  Governor 
Hughes  certifying  to  the  public  import- 
ance of  the  bill  and  to  the  necessity  of 
its  immediate  consideration  by  the  Legis- 
lature resulted  in  its  passage  that  day 
by  the  Senate  and  the  adoption  of  the 
Senate  amendments  by  the  Assembly.  The 
bill  was  thereafter  returned  to  Governor 
Hughes  by  Mayor  McClellan  with  his  ap- 
proval. It  was,  for  a  time,  contended 
that  the  bill  had  not  been  returned  by  the 
Mayor  within  the  constitutional  limit  of 
time.  This  view,  was,  however,  over- 
ruled by  the  Attorney  General  and  on  May 
28,  1909,  the  Governor  summoned  all  par- 
ties interested  in  the  bill  to  a  public 
hearing  on  the  afternoon  of  that  day.  A 
considerable  number  of  private  concerns 
owning  upland  about  Jamaica  Bay  ap- 
peared by  attorneys  and  otherwise  in  op- 
position to  the  bill  on  the  ground  that 
they  had  not  made  application  to  the 
Land  Office  for  grants  of  land  under 
water  in  front  of  their  upland  property 
and  that  the  bill  would  prevent  their  se- 
curing such  grants.  Those  of  us  who 
had  been  responsible  for  the  introduction 
and  passage  of  the  bill,  conceded  that  the 
effect  of  it  would  be  to  prevent  such 
grants  to  private  interests  and  that  one 
of  the  main  purposes  of  the  bill  was  to 
prevent  exactly  that  sort  of  thing  and  to 
save  to  the  City  of  New  York  the  enor- 
mous expense  that  would  be  involved  in 
regaining  title  to  such  lands  for  general 
commercial  purposes.  We  contended  that 
the  rights  of  the  upland  owners  to  ac- 
cess by  water  was  subject  and  subordi- 
nate to  the  general  purposes  of  com- 
merce. This  view  prevailed  and  on  the 
following  day,  May  29,  1909,  Governor 
Hughes  approved  the  bill  with  the  follow- 
ing memorandum: 

"State  of  New  York, 
"Executive  Chamber,  Albany. 

"May  29th,  1909. 

"Memorandum  filed  with  Assembly  bill 
number  2354  (Senate  reprint,  number 
1633),  entitled  'An  Act  to  grant  to  the 
City  of  New  York  certain  lands  under 
water  in  Jamaica  Bay  and  vicinity.' 
"APPROVED. 

"This  bill  bears  the  indorsement  of  the 
Clerk  of  the  Assembly  that  it  was  trans- 
mitted to  the  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New 
York  on  May  1,  1909.  It  was  received 
by  me,  on  its  return,  on  May  17.  1909.  I 
am  informed  by  the  Mayor  that  the  bill 
was  actually  delivered  to  him  on  May  3, 
1909.  Under  the  opinion  of  the  Attorney 
General  that  the  time  for  its  return  is 
to  be  computed  from  the  date  of  auch 
delivery,  I  have  acted  upon  the  bill.  The 
certificate  attached  to  the  bill  does  not 
show  the  assent  of  two-thirds  of  the 
members  elected  to  each  branch  of  the 
Legislature.  But  I  am  advised  that  such 
assent  was  in  fact  given  and  ie  shown 
by  the  record  of  both  Houses. 

"This  bill  Is  designed  to  enable  the 
City  of  New  York  to  co-operate  with  the 
Federal  Government  in  the  creation  of  a 
new  harbor  in  and  about  Jamaica  Bay, 
including  the  making  of  channels,  basins, 
slips  and  other  necessary  adjuncts  and, 
as  the  bill  recites,  to  secure  'the  ad- 
vancement of  the  commercial  interests 
of  the  state  and  nation.'  For  this  pur- 
pose the  grant  is  made  to  the  City  of 
New  York  of  such  right,  title  and  inter- 


est as  the  State  of  New  York  may  have 
in  and  to  the  land  under  water  in  Ja- 
maica Bay  and  Rockaway  Inlet,  and  the 
tributaries  thereto,  as  stated.  The  bill 
provides  that  the  grant  'shall  become 
operative  upon  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment making  its  first  appropriation  for 
the  creation  of  the  new  harfeor  mentioned 
in  this  act.  or  upon  the  City  of  New 
York  appropriating  and  setting  aside  a 
sum  not  less  than  one  million  dollars  for 
the  same  purpose.' 

"It  1b  of  manifest  importance  that  pro- 
vision be  made  for  the  proper  protection 
of  the  public  interest  in  and  about  the 
waters  of  New  York,  and  that  the  neces- 
sary and  important  developments  of  the 
future  should  not  be  retarded  or  made 
more  expensive  to  the  community  by 
failure  at  this  time  to  take  suitable  steps 
to  safeguard  the  public  right.  It  may  be 
regretted  that  the  bill  contains  any  ex- 
ception to  its  operation.  But  this  is  not 
a  reason  for  its  disapproval,  for  further 
delay  will  permit  still  more  numerous  ex- 
ceptions and  detract  from  the  public  op- 
portunity which  should  be  provided. 

"(Signed) 

"CHARLES  E.  HUGHES." 
Mr.  Ford  and  I  had  spent  about  three 
weeks  at  Albany  In  securing  passage  of 
this  measure,  and  its  final  approval  by 
the  governor  of  the  state  removed  one  of 
the  most  serious  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
prosecuting  the  project.  I  believe  few 
have  realized  the  importance  of  this 
measure  and  the  strenuous  character  of 
the  fight  that  was  waged  for  its  enact- 
ment. 

The  report  of  the  War  Department, 
heretofore  referred  to  in  detail,  was  sub- 
mitted to  Congress  on  February  26,  1909. 
This  report  was  based  upon  a  general 
agreement  or  understanding  between 
Colonel  Knight,  the  district  engineer,  and 
the  Jamaica  Bay  Improvement  Commis- 
sion, as  a  result  of  the  long-continued 
conferences  to  which  I  have  heretofore 
alluded.  The  substance  of  this  under- 
standing was  that  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment should  dredge  the  entrance  chan- 
nel and  should  reimburse  the  city  to  the 
extent  of  8  cents  per  cubic  yard  for  the 
dredging  of  the  main  interior  channel. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  general 
government  exercises  no  jurisdiction  In 
connection  with  this  improvement  inside 
the  bulkhead  line  as  determined  tenta- 
tively by  the  United  States  district  en- 
gineer and  thu  Jamaica  Bay  Improvement 
Commission.  What  should  be  done  in- 
side and  from  this  bulkhead  line  in  the 
way  of  the  construction  of  docks  and 
piers  and  auxiliary  basins,  or  the  recla- 
mation of  land,  was  left  to  the  City  of 
New  York  subject  only  to  the  recom- 
mendation that  the  eighteen-foot  entrance 
channel  should  not  bo  dredged  until  the 
secretary  of  war  was  satisfied  that  the 
City  of  New  York  was  prepared  to  un- 
dertake its  part  of  the  joint  plan  of  im- 
provement. It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the 
report  of  the  government's  district  en- 
gineer, approved  by  the  secretary  of  war 
and  submitted  to  Congress  on  February 
26,  1909,  subject  to  the  changes  I  have 
indicated  as  to  the  amount  to  be  al- 
lowed for  the  dredging  of  the  main  In- 
terior channel,  was  a  report  concerning 
the  part  of  the  joint  plan  of  the  improve- 
ment to  be  undertaken  by  the  general 
government  outside  the  bulkhead  line, 
leaving  the  Jamaica  Bay  Improvement 
Commission  to  report  to  the  City  of  New 
York  what  it  should  do  inside  and  from 
the  bulkhead  line  in  the  way  of  carry- 
ing out  the  joint  plan  of  the  Improve- 
ment. 

The  report  of  the  district  engineer  and 
the  secretary  of  war  as  to  the  part  of  the 
Improvement  to  be  undertaken  by  the 
general  government  having  been  made  as 
a  result  of  the  aforesaid  conferences,  It 
was  then  plainly  in  order  in  pursuance  of 
said  general  arrangement,  for  the  Jamai- 
ca Bay  Improvement  Commission  to  re- 
port to  the  City  of  New  York  recommend- 
ing plans  for  improvement  Inside  and 
from  the  bulkhead  line  and  the  cost 
thereof. 


10 


JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


Accordingly,  during  the  early  part  of 
the  summer  of  1909.  the  Jamaica  Bay 
Improvement  Commission  recommended 
thRt  tho  City  of  New  York  should  ap- 
propriate $75,000  to  be  used  for  expenses 
of  the  Commission,  including  the  pros- 
ecution of  field  work  in  Jamaica  Bay 
necessary  to  determine  with  precision 
the  location  of  the  harbor  lines  agreed 
upon  tentatively  between  the  City  of 
New  York  and  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment theretofore  shown  graphically 
only,  the  determination  of  quantities  in- 
volved In  the  excavation,  the  filling  in 
of  the  lands,  building  of  bulkheads  and 
in  acquiring  the  other  necessary  data 
upon  which  to  base  a  more  definite  re- 
port.' The  appropriation  was  promptly 
made,  by  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Ap- 
portionment and  confirmed  by  the  Board 
of  Aldermen.  The  work  went  steadily  on 
during  the  summer  and  fall  of  1909.  and 
on  December  27,  1909,  the  Commisison 
again  submitted  a  majority  report  signed 
by  Mr.  Farley  and  Mr.  McLaughlin,  and 
a  minority  report,  signed  by  Mr.  Ford. 
Both  reports  are  favorable  to  the  plan  of 
co-operation  with  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment but  differ  materially  as  to 
scope  and  detail.  I  think  the  main 
points  of  difference  in  the  reports  can 
be  best  stated  in  the  parallel  form  as 
follows: 

Recommendations  as  to  procedure  for 
the  near  future: 

FARLEY  .  Mc- 
FORD  REPORT.    I LAUGHLIN  REPORT 
(1.)  Creating  pre-|    (J.)  Creating  pre- 


stop  it  would  amount  to  about  $150,000, 
and  would  give  Queens  Borough  ad  out- 
let. 

While  it  may  be  regarded  as  my  duty  to 
continue  my  official  activity  mainly  to  the 
Federal  end  of  this  enterprise,  neverthe- 
less, as  a  citizen  of  Brooklyn  I  certainly 
am  entitled  to  take  an  interest  in  the 
city's  plans  in  meeting  the  Federal  gov- 
ernment the  same  as  I  took  an  active 
part  and  interest  as  a  citizen  in  the  Sar- 
gent bill  at  Albany,  and  I  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  say  that,  while  both  reports  are 
commendable  in  character,  I  believe  it 
would  be  a  serious  error  to  select  in  ad- 
vance any  one  locality  in  the  Bay  for 
high  class  development  until  the  city  has 
acquired  the  lowlands  about  the  Bay 
which  will  be  required  for  the  purposes 
of  the  improvement.  I  think  that  the 
selection  of  such  locality  or  localities  for 
special  development  before  the  city  has 
Acquired  such  lands  would  result  in  un- 
necessary expense  to  the  city.  I  am  also 
of  the  opinion  that  Queens  County  should 
not  be  left  out  of  account  and  that  the 
18  foot  main  interior  channel  should  be 
carried  around  to  Cornell's  Creek  in 
Queens  County.  The  city  is  dealing  with 
a  big  project,  and,  while  proceeding 
with  caution  and  due  regard  for  reason- 
able economy,  it  should  remember  that 
the  money  devoted  to  this  project  is  an 
investment  for  the  city  rather  than  an 
expenditure.  I  am  very  much  gratified  to 
learn  that  the  Board  of  Estimate  and 
|  Apportionment  of  the  City  of  New  York 
i  is  now  unanimous  in  favor  of  appropri- 


John  R.  Corbin,  John  B.  Creighton,  Ter- 
ence F.  Curley,  John  O'Connor,  Elwin 
S.  Piper,  and  a  number  of  others  whose 
names  I  do  not  now  recall.  The  com- 
mittee had  limited  us  in  advance  to  one- 
half  hour's  time.  So  earnest,  however, 
were  the  pleas  of  the  men  who  came  down 
from  Brooklyn  and  so  impressive  were 
their  arguments  that  nearly  two  hours 
time  was  readily  conceded  and  consumed. 
Although  there  was  no  regular  river  and 
harbor  bill  at  that  session,  the  result 
of  these  hearings  was  the  passage  of  a 
special  bill  providing  for  a  survey  with 
a  view  to  estimating  the  cost  of  dredging 
the  Coney  Island  channel  to  a  depth  of  20 
feet  and  a  width  of  600  feet  and  with  a 
view  to  estimating  the  cost  of  an  en- 
trance channel  into  Jamaica  Bay  with 
the  same  depth  and  width.  This  was  only 
one  of  two  bills  reported  out  of  the  river 
and  harbor  committee  that  year.  The  re- 
sult of  the  survey  thus  authorized  was 
the  subsequent  appropriation  of  $188,300 
for  the  Coney  Island  channel.  The  re- 
port on  the  survey  for  the  entrance 
channel  to  Jamaica  Bay  was  adverse  In 
its  character  mainly  on  the  ground  that 
the  cost  was  found  to  be  excessive  when 
disconnected  with  any  plan  for  the  im- 
provement of  the  interior  of  the  bay.  Th« 
subsequent  survpy  for  both  entrance  and 
interior  channels  provided  for  in  the 
river  and  harbor  act  of  1907,  overcame 
the  set-back  that  was  experienced  with 
reference  to  the  1906  survey  for  the  en- 
trance channel.  There  is  no  doubt  what- 
ever now  that  success  was  dependent 
upon  uniting  the  plan  for  the  improve - 


 B  ating  a  large  sum  of  money  to  start  this  |  ment  of  the  entrance  channel  with  th- 

umiuary  IS  ft.  main  liminary  18  ft.  main  |  splendid  work  of  public  improvement.  plan  for  the  improvement  of  the  interior 
channel   throughout|channel  only  part  of  j    Thus  it  appears  that  after  five  years  0f  the  bay 


eaitire   length,   giv-|the  way.  to  the  ex 
ing  the  Borough  of|  elusion  of  the  Bor- 
Queens     access    to|tvugh  of  Queens, 
the  sea  as  well  asl 
the      Borough  of| 
Brooklyn. 

(2.)  Disapproves!  (2.)  Select  at  this 
the  selection  in  ad-|time  for  future 


of  persistent  effort  the   success  of  the 
plan  to  create  a  harbor  in  Jamaica  Bay 
is  assured  by  the  certainty  of  large  ap- 
Federal  Government 


i  propriations  by  the  Fed 
and  the  City  of  New  Y 


ork,  respectively,  that 


It  may  also  here  be  remarked  that  tfte 
one  important  result  of  the  hearings  be- 
fore the  rivers  and  harbors  committee 
during  the   winter  of  1905  to  1906.  was 


•hairman    of    the  committee. 


to  carry  out  a  co-operative  plan. 

As  I  look  back  upon  the  history  of  the 
unusual  events  that  have  culminated  it 


vance,    and    conse-ldevelopment  at    the  |  the   practical   success   that  is 


quent  advertisement! expense  of  th 
of.  one  spot  in  thejone  particular  spot 
Bay  to  the     exclu-j  in    the   Bay   to  the 
sion   of  all   others, (exclusion  of  all  oth- 
for  high  class    de-|ers,  no  part  of  which 
velopment    at     thejis    owned     by  the 
expense  of  the  city.|  city, 
prior    to  the  pur-| 
chase   of   the  ad-! 
jacent  lands    at  a| 
fair  but  not  exorbi-l 
tant  price.  | 

(3.)  The  connec-l  (3.)  Silent  as 
tion  of  the  18  ft. |  this, 
main  channel  with| 
the  entire  adjacent] 
shorefront,  after| 
having  developed.! 
for  commercial  en-l 
terprises,  some  spot! 
or  spots,  to  be  se-| 
lected  hereafter.  | 


sured,  I  am  disposed  to  think  that  while 
obstacles  have  been  encountered  at  almost 
every  step  of  the  way,  the  greatest  diffi- 

ies  of  all  were  encountered  in  getting  j  inspection  of  Jamaica 


The  difference  in  cost  to  the  ci 
dredging  the  four  miles  of  the  prel: 


nary  18  foot  channel  beyond 
Messrs.  Farley  and  McLaughlin 


Theodore  E.  Burton,  now  United  States 
Senator  from  the  State  of  Ohio,  became 
sufficiently  interested  in  the  claims  made 
so  that  in  the  summer  of  1906,  upon  my 
invitation  and  the  invitation  of  the  men 
T  have  above  referred  to,  he  came  to 
Brooklyn  pnd  made  a  thorough  personal 
I  believe  that 

Mr.  Burton's  personal  inspection  of  the 
bay  was  a  matter  of  the  greatest  impor- 
tance In  subsequent  events. 

It  may  perhaps,  in  conclusion,  be  perti- 
nent to  say  that  next  to  the  matter  of 
making  the  start,  the  greatest  diflBculry 
that,  has  been  encountered  has  been  the 
spirit  of  pessimism,  or  at  least  the  lack 
of  optimism,  that  was  for  so  long  a  time 
so  widely  prevalent.    The  optimists  are 
now  in  the  vast  majority,  but  during  most 
of  the  past  five  years  they  have  been  in 
a  strange  minority.    In  this  connection. 
I  desire  to  emphasize  the  fact  if  we  peo- 
ple of  Brooklyn  desire  to  see  the  ulti- 
mate  achievement   of   this   project  that 
means  so  much  to  her  future  and  to  the 
nd  Brooklyn  [  coming  greatness  of  our  borough  as  well 
tanner  I  shall  never  for-  as  of  our  city,  we  must  have  an  abiding 
for  i  get.    To  the  men  who  took  part  iu  these  |  faith  and  confidence  in  the  possibilities 
efforts  at  Washington  the  greatest  j  that  are  plainly  in  sight  and  an  abiding 
i-ere  such  faith  and  confidence  in    our    ability  to 


the  thing  started.  When  I  first  took 
seat  in  Congress  in  December,  1905,  I 
found  that  few,  if  any,  of  the  members 
of  the  committee  on  rivers  and  harbors 
of  the  House  had  ever  heard  the  name 
of  Jamaica  Bay.  At  the  very  start  I  had 
numerous  talks  with  the  distinguished 
I  chairman  of  that  committee  and  tried  by 
to  j  all  conceivable  means  to  get  him  inter- 
ested in  the  matter.  I  finally  decided 
that  tho  only  way  in  which  I  could  im- 
press the  rivers  and  harbors  committee 
was  to  secure  a  heariner  for  a  delegation 
of  public  spirited,  citizens  from  Brooklyn 
I  who  were  blessed  with  enough  of  the 
j  spirit  of  optimism  to  believe  the  thing  to 
i  be  a  possibility.  The  hearing  was  ar- 
ranged during  the 
j  responded 


where  |  credit  is  due.    Among  ti 


uld  1  men  as  Henry  A.  Meyer,  Adolph  Kiendl, '  achieve  succesi. 


Why  Jamaica  Bay  Should  Be  Improved 


By  Henry  A.  Meyer,  President  of  the  Jamaica  Bay  Improvement  Association. 


Henry  A.  Meyer  has  been  an  indefatigable  worker  for  the  improvement  of  Jamaica  Bay.  As  president  of 
the  Jamaica  Bay  Improvement  Association  he  has  given  a  great  deal  of  time  to  the  effecting  of  proper  legislation 
for  the  improvement.  Mr.  Meyer  made  an  exhaustive  study  of  foreign  harbors  and  shipping  during  a  month's  visit 
of  Europe  in  1909. 


To  my  mind  the  proposed  improving 
of  Jamaica  Bay  as  a  commercial  port  in 
connection  with  New  York's  dock  sys- 
tem, is  just  as  necessary  to  the  state 
and  city  of  New  York,  as  it  is  necessary 
that  man  eat  to  live.  The  proof  of  ne- 
cessity lies  in  evidence,  and  where  more 
positive  evidence  of  the  necessity  of  the 
improving  of  Jamaica  Bay  "than  the 
clamoring  of  New  York's  commerce  for 
increased  docking  facilities." 

We  are  informed  on  reliable  authority, 
by  those  who  are  well  versed  on  port  of 
New  York  statistics,  that  much  commerce 
now  enemiraged  to  other  seaboard  cities 
was  only  lost  on  account  of  New  York's 
inability  to  provide  adequate  docking  ac-  ' 
commodations,  this  to  our  shame  and  dis- 
grace 'when  we  consider  how  unusually 
nature  has  favored  us  with  so  ideal  an 
opportunity  as  offered  by  Jamaica  Bay, 
which,  with  but  little  developing,  and  at 
less  cost  than  authorized  for  the  Erie 
barge  canal,  has  in  it  the  making  of  a 
most  magnificent  land-locked  harbor,  cap- 
able of  assuring  to  New  York  forever 
pre-eminence  as  the  commercial  port  of 
entry  of  our  country. 

The  minority  report  of  the  Commission 
appointed  by  Mayor  McClellan  to  report 
on  the  feasibility  of  improving  Jamaica 
Bay  as  a  port-of-entry,  proposes  a  re- 
clamation of  13,000  acres  of  marsh  land 
into  good  tenantable  land,  this  divided 
up  into  20x100  foot  lots  means  that  the 
city  would  have  220,000  city  lots  to  dis- 
pose of.  or  hold,  just  as  it  saw  fit.  The 
making  of  this  land  alone  would  be 
more  than  sufficient  to  pay  for  the  en- 
tire proposed  improvement. 

Secondly,  the  Commission  provides  for 
133  miles  of  wharfage,  while  it  would  not 
be  necessary  to  build  that  amount  of 
wharfage  at  once,  I  am  sure  commerce 
would  so  expand  with  an  improved  Ja- 
maica Bay  as  a  commercial  port  that 
dockage  could  not  be  rapidly  enough 
provided.  It  would  thus  be  paying  for  it- 
self at  the  very  inception.  In  order  to 
make  good  my  assertion  a6  to  the  great 


demand  for  dockage  at  Jamaica  Bay, 
permit  me  to  give  a  few  positive  facts: 
Take  for  instance  the  building  operations 
of  the  sections  bordering  on  Jamaica  Bay, 
the  Twenty-fourth,  Twenty-sixth,  Twen- 
ty-ninth and  Thirty-second  wards  in  the 
Borough  of  Brooklyn;  the  Building  De- 
partment records  show  that  4.786  build- 
ings, at  a  cost  of  126,000,000,  were  erected 
in  these  four  wards  in  the  year  1907. 
When  we  consider  that  every  stick  of 
timber,  yes,  I  dare  say,  every  bit  of 
building  material  used  in  this  vast  build- 
ing operation,  was  either  trucked  from 
the  Wallabout,  Gowanus  or  Newtown 
creeks,  one  can  easily  grasp  the  urgent 
need  of  dockage  nearer  at  home. 

I  have  often  seen  building  operation  in 
the  Tv*enty-ninth  and  Thirty-second 
wards  cease  entirely  for  the  reason  that 

aterial  firms  refused  to  deliver  on  ac- 
count of  distance.  The  same  conditions 
exist  in  Queens  Borough  of  our  city  where 
it  borders  Jamaica  Bay,  as  at  Jamaica, 
Woodhavcn,  Morris  Park,  Springfield, 
Rosedale,  Far  Rockaway,  Arverne  and 
Rockaway  Beach,  all  depending  on  long 
hauls  of  delivery  by  railroad.  Is  it  then 
not  strange  that  we  have  not  been  more 
alive  to  the  possibilities  of  a  Jamaica 
Bay  harbor  ere  this? 

In  the  Twenty-ninth,  Twenty-fourth, 
Twenty-sixth  and  Thirty-second  wards  of 
this  city  in  1907,  1908  and  1909  the  number 
of  buildings  built  were  10,348,  at  a  valua- 
tion of  $67,500,000.  ""■'king  these  figures 
and  approximating  freight  on  the  build- 
ing material  used,  there  would  be  about 
$500,000  saved  if  freight  were  discharged 
direct  on  docks  in  the  neighborhood  in- 
stead of  lightering,  transferring  and  ex- 
changing freight  in  order  to  reach  their 
destination  in  these  wards.  One  of  the 
great  drawbacks  of  the  city  of  New  York 
has  been  excessive  terminal  charges.  The 
situation  will  be  relieved  fifty  per  cent, 
where  outgoing  ocean  steamers  can  re- 
ceive and  deliver  freight  directly  from 
the  cars,  especially  as  regards  grain  and 


I  live  stock.  The  saving  in  expense  on 
|  these  two  items  alone  would  in  a  few 
I  yean;  more  than  cover  the  cost  of  the 
initial  improvement. 

No  greater  improvement  that  the  Stata 
I  of  New  York  could  foster  or  participate 
in  would  guarantee  to  it  the  benefit  and 
profit  assured  by  an  improved  Jamaica 
Bay. 

It  is  absolutely  necessary  that  some 
provision  be  made  for  a  seaboard  ter- 
minal that  will  care  for  the  increased 
|  canal-barge  traffic  that  will  be  developed 
by  the  Erie  barge-canal  now  under  con- 
struction; and  where  a  more  ideal  loca- 
tion than  Jamaica  Bay  harbor? 

The  best  proof  that  Jamaica  Bay  stands 
out  as  the  most  central  seaboard  terminal 
is  the  fact  that  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road, and  such  roads  as  E.  H.  Harriman 
was  interested  in,  have  all  planned  for 
great  terminals  at  Jamaica  Bay, 
where  it  is  made  practicable  to  bring 
rail  and  shipping  interests  in  direct  con- 
nection, thus  doing  away  with  the  now 
costly  and  burdensome  intertransporta- 
tion  charges.  It  is  only  such  connecting 
features  that  will  forever  assure  ihe 
future  expansion  of  commerce. 

I  have  had  opportunity  of  visiting  such 
great  harbors  as  those  of  Hamburg,  Bre- 
men, Rotterdam  and  Liverpool.  All  these 
ports,  as  you  are  aware,  are  located  from 
fifty  or  sixty  miles  from  the  ocean,  every 
foot  of  which  must  be  continually  dredged 
to  permit  vessels  to  reach  their  land- 
ings. Compare  such  conditions  as  against 
the  possibilities  of  magnificent  Jamaica 
Bay  connecting  directly  with  deep  oceat 
waters.  The  creation  of  Jamaica  Bay  a£ 
a  commercial  port  would  effect  a  savins 
of  five  hours  time  under  the  most  favor- 
able conditions,  and  from  one  to  two  days 
in  heavy  fogs  or  snow  storms  over  the 
present  route  in  the  time  taken  for  tb» 
trip  between  European  ports  and  New 
York.  Ask  the  captain  of  any  Atlantic 
liner,  and  he  will  surely  say  that  th« 
most  dangerous  part  of  the  whole  voyag* 
across  "is  the  trip  from  Sandy  Hook  to 


JAMAICA  BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


tbe  N«w  York  dock"— all  to  be  done 
*way  with  an  Improved  Jamaica  Bay. 

There  are  nine  reasons  why  Jamaica 
Bay  should  be  improved: 

First.  Jamaica  Bay  is  the  ideal  location 
for  an  ooean  terminal,  offering,  as  it  does, 
a  safe  harbor  with  a  good  inlet  and  out- 
let to  the  ooean. 

Second.  Jamaica  Bay  will  amply  pro- 
vide railroad  facilities  for  railroads  to 
all  parts  of  our  oountry. 

Third.  Jamaica  Bay  will  enable  ship- 
pers and  manufacturers  to  obtain  trans- 
portation at  the  lowest  possible  cost. 

Fourth.  Jamaica  Bay  would  enable  the 
State  of  New  York  to  regain  the  com- 
merce which  rightly  belongs  to  it.  Ocean 
liners  and  canal  barges  would  be  brought 


in  direct  contact,  thus  saving  great  cost 
of  loading  and  unloading. 

Fifth.  Jamaica  Bay  will  furnish  163 
miles  of  additional  dockage  to  New  York 
City's  dock  system,  which  5s  more  than 
all  the  combined  shore,  line  of  all  the 
toroughs  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

Sixth.  Jamaica  Bay  offers  exceptional 
opportunities  for  warehouses  and  fac- 
tories. 

Seventh.  Jamaica  Bay  can  be  connected 
at  comparatively  small  cost  with  the 
Harlem  River  by  a  waterway  to  Flushing 
Bay,  and  with  the  Hudson  River  by  the 
proposed  Coney  Island  canal. 

Eighth.  Jamaica  Bay  stands  out  as  a 
central  location  for  a  seaboard  terminal 
for  railroads.    This  is  evident  from  the 


terminal  planned  by    the  Pennsylvania 

Railroad  and  Harrlman  railroads. 

Ninth.  Jamaica  Bay  will  bring  together 
water  and  railroad  transportation  at  a 
central  location  that  will  accommodate 
them  all. 

Without  question,  the  Improved  Jamaica 
Bay  forever  spells  the  destiny  of  the 
City  of  New  York  as  being  the  greatest 
metropolis  on  earth.  Because,  of  natural 
location,  the  Jamaica  Bay  will  be  a  new 
door  to  the  nation,  which  will  have  such 
an  effect  on  the  growth  of  the  surround- 
ing country  as  to  increase  its  population 
a  hundred  fold. 

Let  us  hope  for  an  early  realization 
of  an  improved  Jamaica  Bay  as  the  best 
and  greatest  harbor  in  the  world. 


tM  *M  Oft  t,H><M-Jt<Jt 


History  of  Jamaica  Bay 


Written  toy  Noyes  F.  Palmerf  in  1906. 


In  the  State  Library-  is  an  original  map. 
made  In  1666,  which  was  obtained  by  the 
late  Senator  H.  C.  Murphy  while  United 
States  Minister  at  The  Hague.  A  copy  of 
this  map  was  published  in  Volume  14, 
"Documents  Relating  to  the  Colonial  His- 
tory of  the  State  of  New  York,"  relating 
to  a  period  from  1630  to  1G64. 

The  water  now  designated  as  Jamaica 
Bay  was  designated  on  that  map  as 
Canarsie  Bay.  At  the  date  of  this  survey, 
1666,  there  was  no  inlet  from  the  sea  into 
Canarsie  Bay,  except  one  east  of  a  line 
drawn  south  from  the  present  Woodhaven 
lane,  at  Jamaica,  or  about  the  eastern 
end  of  the  bay,  about  where  the  Arverne 
Hotel  is  now  situated. 

In  1776,  when  Lord  Howe  and  the  Brit- 
ish and  Hessian  troops  took  possession 
of  New  York,  his  engineers  made  a  map  I 
of  this  Canarsie  Bay  and  designated  it 
Jamaica  Bay.  This  was  the  first  use  of 
the  words  Jamaica  Bay.  This  map  of  1776 
shows  two  inlets  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
into  Jamaica  Bay.  The  eastern  inlet  was 
at  a  point  due  so.uth  of  Titus  Titus  Mill, 
now  known  as  the  Van  Wlcklen  Mill,  on 
Spring  or  Third  Creek.  The  other  inlet 
was  about  due  south  of  the  old  Town  Hall 
of  Platlands. 

In  1797,  about  the  time  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  State  of  New  York,  various 
maps  were  made,  showing  the  limits  of 
the  towns  of  Jamaica,  Flatbush  and  Plat- 
lands,  bordering  on  this  bay.  The  Stewart 
map  of  the  town  of  Jamaica  shows  the 
town  line  on  the  west,  as  extended  from 
a  cedar  tree  on  the  hills  of  Newtown, 
passing  through  Betts'  Tavern,  John  I. 
Snediker'e  of  modern  times,  and  thence  in 
a  straight  line  through  the  mouth  of 
Spring  Creek  and  out  through  The  Gut 
into  Atlantic  Ocean.  This  line  was  also 
the  boundary  line  of  Kings  and  Queens 
counties.  This  survey  of  the  town  of 
Jamaica,  1797,  designated  that  portion  of 
the  bay  as  Jamaica  Bay. 

The  map  of  the  town  of  Flatbush,  by 
Jeremiah  Lott,  designated  the  waters 
bordering  on  that  town  as  Flatbush  Bay, 
and  a  map  by  the  same  surveyor  of  the  i 
town  of  Flatlands  designated  the  waters 
bordering  on  that  town  as  Flatlands  Bay. 
These  three  town  surveys  were  made  to 
conform  to  the  original  ground  briefs,  or 
first  title,  when  the  freeholders  pur- 
chased from  the  Indians  the  fee  of  the 
lands  and  of  the  lands  under  water  from 
the  "hills  to  the  sea." 

By  the  Stewart  map  of  the  town  of 
Jamaica,  in  1797,  the  eastern  inlet  was 
about  where  the  Lord  Howe  map  had  it  in 
1776.  The  Jeremiah  Lott  map  of  Flatbush 
shows  an  inlet  about  due  south  of  Fresh  i 
Creek  (First  Creek).  Tradition  and  testi- 
mony of  many  old  inhabitants  say  the 
Stewart  Inlet,  called  the  Gut,  closed  up 
and  another  inlet  formed  a  mile  to  west 
»nd  eventually  the  inlet,  as  shown  on 
Jeremiah  Lott  map  of  Flatbush,  was 
straight  out  to  the  sea  in  front  of  Barren 
Island. 

I  have  talked  with  two  old  men  of  the 
Jeremiah  Lott  family,  who  say  that  when  J 


boys  they  walked  on  Barren  Island,  to  the 
seashore  and  eastward  for  a  mile,  where 
the  inlet  was,  about  1836.  The  same  old 
men  say  that  they  were  present  on  Bar- 
ren Island  the  night  of  a  great  storm 
when  a  new  inlet  cut  through  Barren 
Island.  The  gradual  growth  of  Rockaway 
point  to  the  westward  has  carried  this 
inlet  a  mile  farther  west  than  it  was  in 
1836,  eo  that  instead  of  going  straight  out 
to  sea  on  the  east  corner  of  Barren 
Island,  it  is  now  necessary  to  sail  between 
Barren  Island  and  Rockaway  Bay  to  the 
west  and  go  out  to  sea  about  in  front  of 
the  Brighton  Beach  Hotel.  So  much  for 
the  shifting  inlet. 

All  maps  of  Jamaica  Bay  show  a  body 
of  water  between  Rockaway  Beach  and 
the  land  shores  of  the  bay.  And  the  first 
maps  and  records  show  these  shores  were 
first  settled  by  the  early  Dutch.  The  first 
reference  in  the  Dutch  Annels  refer  to 
I  meadow  lots  on  the  First,  Second  and 
Third  Creeks  emptying  into  the  bay.  long 
before  any  maps  of  allotment  were  made 
of  the  planting  lands  or  wood  lots.  The 
last  Dutch  governor,  Stuyvesant,  owned  a 
farm  in  the  town  of  Flatlands.  not  far 
from  the  head  of  Bedford  Creek,  and  Cap- 
tain Schenck,  a  friend  of  the  Dutch  gov- 
ernor, had  a  special  order  from  the  gov- 
ernor to  trade  in  furs  from  the  Canarsie 
Landing  to  Holland — as  great  a  privilege 
as  had  the  Dutch  captains  from  New  Am- 
sterdam sailing  from  Bowling  Green.  The 
uplands  in  the  towns  were  Indian  corn 
lots  or  wood  lots,  and  these  were  laid  out 
subsequent  to  the  survey  and  map  of  the 
meadow  land  on  the  basis  o*f  ratio  of 
meadow  area  previously  allotted.  The 
bays  and  creeks  of  all  the  Dutch  colonies 
of  Kings  County,  were  the  primary  source 
of  living  and  revenue.  These  bays  and 
creeks  were  the  only  means  of  collecting 
revenue.  Corn  mills  were  at  the  head- 
waters and  Fly  Boats  sailed  in  and  out 
to  the  seat  of  government  in  New  Amster- 
dam. So  important  were  these  creeks 
that  on  the  maps  of  1666  are  shown  the 
canals  dug  through  the  meadows,  to 
Gravesend  Bay  from  Canarsie  Bay,  to 
avoid  going  out  to  sea.  It  would  seem 
that  the  present  generation  should  have 
the  same  privileges.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
it  is  one  of  the  mysteries  of  political 
I  government  that  Jamaica  Bay  has  been 
lost  to  commerce,  whereas  two  hundred 
years  ago  it  was  the  means  of  making  the 
old  Dutch  land  owners  the  real  factors  in 
politics.  It  is  a  matter  of  political  his- 
tory that  two  generations  ago  the  farmers 
were  the  bosses,  and  not  until  1886  did  the 
former  towns  of  Flatbush,  Gravesend, 
New  Utrecht,  Flatlands  and  New  Lots  ba- 
gin  to  pass  into  city  politics. 

So  far  as  I  know,  there  is  but  one  public 
dock  in  the  entire  limits  of  Jamaica 
Bay.  And  this  one  dock  and  landing 
place  was  acquired  in  1848,  at  the  foot  of 
Eldert  Lane  to  Van  Wicklens  Mill— an 
inland  dock  at  the  head  of  Third  Creek. 
There  was  another  public  landing  place 
established  at  Canarsie,  and  designated  as 
Schencks,  in  1797,  8nd  referred  to  in  the 
Dutch  Annels.  It  is  a  well  known  fact 
the  Canarsie  Landing  was  used  as  early 
as  1664,  and  before  that.  No  one  now  liv- 
ing has  ever  known  when  there  was  not 


a  landing  place  at  Canaraie.   A  mulUtuO* 

of  deeds  in  the  Canarsie  section  all  reJer 
to  the  "Road  to  the  Landing."  The  rec- 
ords show  that  in  1704  there  was  a  "road 
and  landing  place"  at  Canarsie,  and  to  be 
there  forever. 

AS  a  matter  of  fact,  Mr.  Littlejohn, 
who  built  the  Canarsie  Railroad,  found 
this  old  dock  and  landing  in  1866  and  kept 
possession  of  It.  Hie  successors  have  it 
now.  The  commissioners  map  of  Brook- 
lyn calls  for  three  large  basins,  or  water 
ways,  from  Jamaica  Bay  up  Into  principal 
land  sections,  and  by  Chapter  351,  Laws 
1893,  more  than  one-half  of  Jamaica  Bay- 
was  placed  on  the  maps  of  the  City  of 
Brooklyn.  All  of  these  should  be  balk- 
headed  and  dredged  out,  for  purposes  of 
navigation  and  sewer  drainage.  This 
would  reclaim  thousands  of  acres  of  land 
now  not  fit  for  habitation  and  increase 
the  assessed  valuation  of  the  city  far 
beyond  our  imagination.  All  that  ie  lack- 
ing are  channels  and  bulkheads. 

By  Frederick  Van  Wyck. 

Further  facts  about  the  history  of  Ja- 
maica are  contained  in  a  letter  addressed 
to  the  controller  of  New  York  City,  Ed- 
ward M.  Grout,  by  Frederick  Van  Wyck, 
on  November  28,  1904.   He  goes' on  to  say. 

"It  is  believed  that  with  the  exception 
of  the  most  northerly  island  of  the  tract, 
known  as  Crooke's  Island,  these  lands 
were  never  assessed  to  any  owner  by  the 
Town  of  Flatlands.  About  twenty  years 
ago  some  small  cottages  were  erected  on 
an  island  in  the  southerly  part  of  the 
tract,  and  it  is  said  that  grants  were  af- 
terward obtained  from  the  land  commis- 
sioners for  small  portions,  not  contigu- 
ous to  any  upland  and  far  removed  there- 
from. About  ten  years  ago  a  claim  was 
posted  up  in  several  parts  of  the-  tract 
by  certain  members  of  the  Lott  family 
at  Flatlands.  I  do  not  hold  any  retainer 
on  behalf  of  any  private  interest  and 
write  only  as  an  inhabitant  of  Flatlands. 
From  historical  investigation  the  situa- 
tion appears  to  be  this: 

"There  is  a  Dutch  patent  or  grotra- 
brief,  dated  in  June,  1636,  recorded  in  the 
Secretary  of  State's  office  in  Book  G.  G. 
of  Translations  from  the  Dutch,  ac  page 
34,  to  Andries  Hudde  and  Wblphert  Ger- 
ritsen  (Van  Kouwenhoven)  of  the  whole 
of  Flatlands  exclusive  of  Flatlands  Neck, 
Canarsie  and  Bergens  Island,  described 
as  extending  from  'a  certain  valley'  (low 
ground)  to  the  woods. 

"  'In  a  -Journal  of  a  Voyage  to  New  York 
and  a  Tour  in  several  of  the  American 
Colonies  in  1679-80,  by  Jasper  Dankers 
and  Peter  Sluyter  of  Weiwand  in  Freis- 
land,  translated  from  the  original  manu- 
script in  Dutch  for  the  Long  Island  His- 
torical Society  and  edited  by  Henry  C. 
Murphy,  Foreign  Corresponding  Secre- 
tary of  the  Society,"  constituting  Volume 
I.  of  the  Memoirs  of  the  Long  Island  His- 
torical Society,  beginning  at  page  117,  a 
very  full  description  is  given  of  esetain 
parts  of  the  present  Borough  of  BrooM^s, 
including  Flatlands,  ^jid  particularly  this 
tract  of  low  ground  or  'valley.'  Under 
entry  of  October  11.  1679.  it  is  noted: 

"  'There  is  towards  the  sea  a  large  piece 
of  low  flat  land  which    is    overflown  at 


14 


'JAMAICA1  BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


every  tide  like  the  scborr  (marsh)  with 
us,  miry  and  muddy  at  the  bottom,  and 
which  produces  a  species  of  hard,  salt 
grass  or  reed  grass.  Such  a  place  they 
call  the  valley  and  mow  it  for  hay  which 
cattle  would  rather  eat  than  fresh  hay  or 
grass.' 

"Then  follows  a  description  of  the  up- 
lands at  Flatlands.  both  as  cultivated 
and  as  used  for  pasture.  The  large  tract 
of  Arm,  salt  meadow  lying  northeast  of 
the  village  of  Flatlands  is  also  carefully 
described  and  distinguished  from  the  so- 
called  'valley.'  Certain  natural  objects, 
such  as  the  grove  still  standing  at  Bergen 
Beach,  locate  this  last  mentioned  firm 
meadow  or  heath  very  definitely.  The 
description  of  this  last-mentioned  salt 
meadow  in  the  Journal  of  1679  is  as  fol- 
lows (also  under  entry  of  October  11, 
1679): 

"  'There  is  also  a  tract  which  is  some- 
what large,  of  a  kind  of  heath  on  which 
sheep  could  graze  though  we  saw  none 
upon  it.  This  meadow  (schorr),  like  all 
the  others  is  well  provided  w  ith  good  i 
creeks  which  are  navigable  and  veryl 
serviceable  for  fisheries.  There  Is  here  a 
grist  mill  (late  known  as  Crooke's  mill) 
driven  by  the  water  which  they  dam  upl 
in  the  creek  *  •  •  In  the  middle  of' 
this  meadow  there  Is  a  grove  into  which 
we  went  and  within  which  there  is  a  good 
vale  cleared  off  and  planted.' 

"There  is  an  Award  of  Arbitrators, 
dated  February  13,  1695-6,  recorded  in 
Kings  County  Register's  Office,  Liber  2 
of  Conveyances.  Page  82.  settling  certain 
matters  in  controversy  between  the  in- 
habitants of  Flatlands   and    the  succes- 


sors In  interest  of  Hudde  and  Van  Kou-1 
wenhoven,  In  relation  to  the  boundaries! 
of  the  above-mentioned  ground  brief.  In i 
that  award  it  is  adjudged  and  decreed, 
among  other  things,  that  the  'valley' 
was  included  within  said  ground  brief  and 
belonged  thereto. 

"I  believe  that  it  is  under  this  award,! 
supplemented  by  an  Indian  deed,  known 
as  the  Barren  Island  deed,  a  copy  of 
which  is  published  in  Styles'  History  of 
Brooklyn,  topic.  Flat  lands,  and  a  con- 
firmatory patent  from  the  Euglish  gov- 
ernment, dated  November  J.  1C67,  re- 
corded Secretary  of  State,  office  book  1, 
page  91,  that  private  ownership  to  this 
tract,  always  excepting  Crooke's  Island, 
is  claimed. 

"With  the  exception  of  Crooke's  Island, 
it  is  probable  that  prior  to  the  above- 
mentioned  occupation,  taken  about  twenty 
years  ago,  of  small  portions  of  the  tract, 
no  possession  was  had  of  the  property  for 
over  a  century  or  perhaps  two,  provided, 
however,  that  if  the  Barren  Island  In- 
dian deed  can  be  shown  to  include  that 
tract,  the  unquestioned  possession  of  that 
island  may  extend  lo  the  whole  tract. 

"The  English  town  patents  of  Flatlands, 
dated  one  October  4.  1667.  and  the  other, 
March  11,  1685-6.  recorded  in  Secretary 
of  State's  office,  in  book  4,  of  patents, 
page  44,  and  book  5,  page  300,  respect- 
ively, were  probably  sufficient  to  carry 
the  title  to  this  tract  of  low  lands  or 
lands  under  water,  to  the  Town  of  Flat- 
lands,  if  such  lands  were  not  then  held 
in  private  ownership  under  the  Dutch 
ground  brief. 

"If,  as  may  be  readily  suggested,  the 


Dutch  sovereignty  Bad  no  power  under 
the  civil  law  to  convey  the  title  to  lands 
under  tidal  waters  to  private  owners,  and 
the  lands  in  question  answer  that  de- 
scription, the  title  would  appear  to  have 
passed  to  the  Crown  of  England  and 
thence  to  the  Town  of  Flatlands,  prior 
to  said  confirmatory  patent,  and  may  now 
be  in  the  City  of  New  York  a3  successor 
of  that  town. 

"On  the  other  hand,  if  the  lands  in 
question,  although  overflown  at  every 
tide,  or  at  some  tides,  are  not  technically 
lands  under  water  within  the  meaning  of 
the  civil  law,  and  if  that  law  favored  the 
granting  of  such  lands  to  private  owners 
and  the  reclaiming  thereof  by  such  own- 
ers, as  was  doubtless  the  case  with  marsh 
lands  in  the  Netherlands,  and  perhaps 
also  in  Louisiana,  and  it  is  determined 
that  the  title  is  in  the  descendants  or 
successors  in  interest  of  the  Dutch  pat- 
entees, would  it  be  proper  to  ask  your 
advice  in  the  matter  of  an  immediate 
application  to  the  city  to  take  these  very 
cheap  lands  now,  by  eminent  domain,  and 
control  them  either  for  commerce  or 
pleasure? 

"If  the  city  owns  the  lands,  adverse 
possession  may  run  against  it  in  a  short 
time,  if  it  has  not  already  run  In  respect 
of  certain  small  portions  of  the  tract. 

"Permit  me  to  suggest  that  the  time 
cannot  be  far  distant  when  business  en- 
terprises such  as  those  on  Newtown 
Creek  and  at  Carteret  will  seek  to  occupy 
these  lands  and  that  an  early  determina- 
tion by  the  city  of  its  position  with  re- 
spect to  them  would  be  a  great  local 
benefit  of  Flatlands. 


Jamica  Bay  Needs  30  Foot  Channel. 

By-Calvin  Tomkins,  Commissioner  of  Docks,  New  York  City. 


"I  consider  this  improvement  of  vast 
significance  to  the  City  of  New  York. 
If  it  is  possible  ultimately  to  maintain 
a  30-foot  channel  in  Jamaica  Bay  or  a 
deeper  channel,  the  Jamaica  Bay  improve- 
ment will  be  a  revolutionary  event  in  the 
development  of  the  city.  If  it  is  not  pos- 
sible to  maintain  more  than  the  14-foot 
channel  that  exists  now,  nevertheless 
that  large  area  of  land  and  water  will  be 
of  the  greatest  value  to  the  city  as  an 
industrial  railway  terminal  with  the 
barge  canal  equipment. 

"I  think  that  the  former  possibility  is 
likely  to  come  about.  I  believe  we  should 
look  at  this  thing  in  a  very  practical 
way.  I  don't  think  that  the  improve- 
ment of  the  bay,  in  the  manner  that  the 
city  will  probably  undertake  it.  will  go 
ahead  with  a  great  rush.  I  don't  believe 
the  city  will  have  the  funds  to  do  it  that 
way.  but  I  think  the  city  will  decide  to 
make  a  start,  and  the  first  use  to  which 
the  bay  will  be  put.  it  seems  to  me,  will 
be  a  use  like  thai  to  which  Gowanus  and 
Newtown  Creeks  were  put.  providing 
facilities  for  obtaining  cheap  bu.lding 
material  to  build  up  ilie  ci'.y.  coal  an: 


coarse  freights,  and  introducing  an  op- 
portunity of  industrial  development  by 
feeding  raw  materials  to  the  factories 
which  will  go  there.  I  believe  factory 
developments  should  go  on  coincidentally 
with  the  terminal  development,  and  that 
we  should  plan  to  build  a  terminal  as 
distinguished  from  a  mere  waterfront; 
that  is,  with  warehouse  equipment  and 
railway  equipment  as  well  as  docks. 

"I  believe  that  the  railway  develop- 
ment should  be  under  the  control  of  the 
city.  If  the  opportunity  of  such  a  gen- 
eral railway  terminal  is  not  availed  of. 
it  will  be  very  difficult  to  provide  it 
later. 

"At  the  present  time  Jamaica  Bay  is 
about  as  near  to  the  New  Jersey  system 
of  railroads  as  it  is  possible  to  reach 
with  the  tunnel  grading  You  can  do  it 
for  passengers,  but  you  cannot  do  this 
advantageously  for  freight  in  Manhattan. 
It  looks  as  though  we  will  have  to  con- 
tinue to  depend  upon  the  car  float  in 
Manhattan  and  South  Brooklyn,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  switch,  and  this  is  a 
permanent  handicap,  direct  railway 
connection,  of  course,  being  cheaper. 

"Back  of  the  warehouses.-  there  should 
be  located  factory  sites,  and  here  is  a 
great  opportunity  for  private  develop- 
ment. I  believe  the  street  system  and 
the  local  railway  terminal  system  shuulu 


be  so  planned  as  to  make  it  possible  to 

connect  every  future  factory  site  with 
the  waterfront  terminals.  That  is  what 
they  are  planning  to  do  in  New  Jersey 
and  it  is  the  key  to  the  New  Jersey  situ- 
ation. 

"The  overshadowing  consideration,  to 
my  mind,  is  that  of  keeping  the  city 
ahead  of  the  speculator.  If  we  are  to 
have  an  economical  development  and  a 
quick  development,  the  city  must  place 
itself  in  the  position  which  the  specula- 
tor usually  occupies,  and  by  so  doing 
avoid  stumbling  over  its  own  tracks  by 
raising  values. 

"The  working  out  of  the  entire  water- 
front development  depends  ou  the  ac- 
quisition of  property  In  such  a  way  as 
to  facilitate  the  further  acquisition  of 
property. 

"I  believe  that  ultimately,  it  the  city 
acquires  these  waterfront  lands,  the  de- 
velopment will  be  greatly  stimulated,  be- 
cause the  basis  for  utilization — the  rent 
paid— will  be  lower  than  it  would  be  un- 
der any  private  system,  based  upon  pro- 
gressive speculative  advances. 

'The  majority  and  minority  reports  of 
the  Jamaica  Bay  commission  are  in  pretty 
fair  agreement  as  regards  the  shore  de- 
velopment. As  regards  the  interior  de- 
velopment, they  are  not,  but  that  is  not 
a  material  question  at  present,  and  wo 
have  plenty  of  time  for  consideration." 


Remarks  Before  the  Barge  Canal 
Terminal  Commission 


By  N.  B.  Killmer,  Secretary  of  the  Jamaica  Bay  Improvement  Association. 


Gentlemen  of  the  Commission: 

The  title  of  the.  act  that  called  you 
into  existence  says  that  you  are  to  in- 
quire into  the.  question  of  'providing 
terminal  facilities  on  the  canals  of  this 
state,  -with  a  view  of  ultimately  improv- 
ing and  fostering  the  commerce  of  the 
state.  Section  1  of  this  act  states  that 
it  shall  be  your  duty  to  visit  and  inspect 
not  only  the  various  harbors  connected 
with  the  canals,  but  all  harbors  in  this 
state  where  freight  carried  on  the  canals 
may  be  either  received  or  discharged. 

In  the  report  which  you  are  to  make 
to  the  Legislature,  your  findings  and  rec- 
ommendations shall  include  the  place 
where,  in  your  judgment,  special  facil- 
ities for  receiving  and  discharging  canal 
freight  should  be  provided,  the  securing 
of  available  sites  for  terminal  structures, 
amount  of  land  necessary  to  be  taken  at 
each  point  for  such  purposes,  etc. 

The  reason  for  the  enactment  of  this 
law  was.  of  course,  plain  and  unmistak- 
able. The  State  has  undertaken,  by  the 
expenditure  of  a  large  sum  of  money,  a 
great  public  work  that  was  destined  to 
benefit  not  only  her  own  people,  but  also 
a  large  section  of  the  country,  by  the 
improvement  and  enlargement  of  her 
waterways,  and  thus  create  a  highway  of 
commerce  that  would  furnish  transporta- 
tion for  the  products  of  the  West  and 
the  Northwest  to  tide  water.  The  ex- 
penditure of  more  than  one  hundred  mil- 
lions would  be  practically  useless  and 
would  utterly  fail  to  accomplish  the  pur- 
pose desired,  viz.,  "the  improving  and 
fostering  of  commerce,"  unless  some- 
thing additional  was  done.  What  thai 
something  was  is  clearly  stated  by  the 
superintendent  of  public  works,  Mr. 
Stevens,  a  member  of  this  commission, 
in  his  report  to  the  Legislature,  wherein 
he  says:  "Adequate  terminals  are  pre- 
requisite to  the  proper  handling  of  traffic, 
and  any  waterway  which  does  not  possess 
lermlnal  facilities  will  almost  certainly 
be  doomed  to  failure."  Therefore,  be- 
cause of  this  need  of  terminal  facilities, 
and  for  which  the  expenditure  by  the 
state  of  one  hundred  and  one  million  dol- 
lars had  not  provided,  although  absolute- 
ly necessary  in  order  to  secure  the  bene- 
fit to  the  state,  your  commission  was  ap- 
pointed. My  object  in  reminding  you  of 
reasons  for  which  you  were  created  is 
for  the  purpose  of  impressing  upon  your 
minds  the  real  work  thai  you  have  un- 
dertaken to  do.  It  is  not,  as  I  under- 
stand it,  the  commission's  duty  simply 
to  go  to  Buffalo.  Tonawanda.  Albany, 
Poughkeepsie  or  New  York  City  and  se- 
lect a  dock  here  and  there  that  a  canal 
boat  may  tie  up  to;  but  it  is  to  find  a 
location  and  site  where,  in  its  judgment, 
special  facilities  for  receiving  and  dis- 
charging canal  freight  could  be  provided, 
to  the  end  and  for  the  purpose  of  im-  ' 


proving  and  fostering  the  commerce  of 
the  state  over  the  new  waterway. 

If  only  a  partial  success  attends  the 
enlarging  of  the  canal  and  it  secures 
but  a  minimum  amount  of  business  in 
tonnage,  and  it  is  utilized  to  only  a  frac- 
tion of  its  capacity,  it  will  mean  a  very 
large  Increase  in  the  tonnage.  But  the 
friends  of  the  canal  estimate  that  in  a 
very  short  time  it  will  bring  annual 
tonnage  to  this  port  of  at  least  ten  mil- 
lion tons,  more  than  double  that  of  any 
previous  year;  but  it  must  have  adequate 
up-to-date  lerminal  facilities  to  secure 
the  business,  and  then  to  take  care  of  It. 

A  big  ditch  across  the  state,  with  the 
same  kind  of  terminal  facilities  as  have 
been  furnished  heretofore,  will  not  do  it. 
According  to  many  who  think  they  are 
competent  to  judge,  the  enlarging  of  the 
canal  will  not  increase  the  business  at 
this  port  one  iota  unless  the  terminal 
facilities  at  this  port  are  radically 
changed.  They  assert  that  the  congested 
docks  and  piers,  compelling  three  per- 
sons to  do  business  in  a  space  designed 
for  two,  and  at  rates  much  higher  than 
at  other  ports  because  of  this  congested 
condition,  and  the  extra  expense  of  hand- 
ling, hauling  and  rehandling  involved, 
make  the  cost  of  through  business  much 
higher  than  at  other  ports,  and  hence  the 
driving  of  business  elsewhere. 

General  Clarkson,  the  surveyor  of  the 
port,  in  a  recent  statement  to  the  Mari- 
time Association,  said:  "In  twenty-one 
years  the  exportation  of  grain  has  fallen 
from  114.000,000  to  34,204,054  bushels.  In 
export  of  corn  alone  last  year  this  port 
lost  16,000,000  bushels.  The  main  factors 
in  driving  away  the  city's  export  trade 
have  been  New  York's  high  charges  for 
wharfage  and  the  neglect  to  provide  ter- 
minal facilities.  Whereas  berthing  space 
here  costs  from  $60  to  $75  a  day,  Boston, 
with  a  more  enlightened  policy,  provides 
free  wharfage  for  all  steamships,  and  by 
state  legislation  has  created  a  system  of 
railroad  terminals  at  piers,  with  the  re- 
sult that  thousands  of  cars  of  freight 
pass  by  New  York  yearly  to  find  export 
at  less  expense  from  Boston." 

Lieutenant  Governor  Horace  White,  in 
a  speech  delivered  before  the  Manufactur- 
ers Association  last  winter,  said:  "One 
of  the  chief  purposes  of  the  Barge  Canal 
was  to  afford  competition."  He  said  that 
the  nation  as  a  whole  would  have  rpaped 
untold  henefits  if  the  ships  loaded  at  Du- 
luth  could  have  passed  unimpeded  to  the 
sea;  but  as  that  cannot  be,  we  should 
make  the  most  of  what  we  have.  "It  is 
my  fear,"  he  said,  "that  the  railroads  will 
own  the  ships  on  the  Great  Lakes,  the 
elevators  at  Buffalo,  the  barges  on  the 
canal,  and  the  terminals  which  will  con- 
trol the  traffic  at  this  port."  This  men- 
ace cannot  be  allowed  to  exist:  but  it  can- 
not be  neglected  if  the  state  is  to  receive 
any  benefits  commensurate  with  the  ex- 
penditure for  the  Barge  Canal. 

The  people  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
valleys  are  clamoring  for  the  general  gov- 


ernment to  expend  large  sums  of  money 
in  deepening  those  two  rivers  so  that  ships 
from  the  Great  Lakes  can  pass  out  to 
sea  via  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  diversion 
of  the  grain  trade  from  this  port  to  Mon- 
treal also  furnishes  a  needed  warning. 

Spuyten  Duyvil  and  Inwood  have  been 
suggested  for  the  principal  terminal  at 
this  port.  Certainly  no  one  could  expect 
to  improve  and  foster  the  commerce  of 
New  York  by  locating  the  terminals  there. 
If  shippers  have  any  cargoes  for  those 
towns  or  for  Yonkers,  Tarrytown.  or  the 
downtown  sections  of  Manhattan,  or  Har- 
lem, Brooklyn.  Newtown  Creek,  Flushing. 
Staten  Island,  or  at  any  other  point  that 
can  be  reached  by  water,  the  barges  will 
be  taken  there.  This  would  be  consid- 
ered local  freight  and  distinguished  from 
the  through  export  business.  This  latter 
business  is  the. business  the  state  desires 
to  reclaim  and  to  foster,  and  a  suitable 
terminal,  with  ample  room,  must  be  pro- 
vided or  it  cannot  do  it. 

If  New  York  is  to  reap  the  benefits  jus- 
tified in  the  expenditure  of  one  hundred 
million  dollars  on  her  improved  and  en- 
larged canal,  then  she  must  provide  a 
suitable  terminal  at  tidewater,  where  ves- 
sels can  be  loaded  and  unloaded  economi- 
cally and  expeditiously.  Such  an  Ideal 
spot  is  found  at  Jamaica  Bay. 

Some  gentlemen  representing  Manhat- 
tan yesterday  suggested  that  the  dry 
goods  trade  required  the  location  of  a 
terminal  at  Canal  street,  some  others  at 
Broad  street,  still  another  at  Coentis 
Slip.  While  Mr.  Palmer  advocated  New- 
town Creek  as  being  all  important  for 
the  business  of  that  section.  We  say  that 
if  the  local  commerce  of  those  sections, 
or  any  section,  requires  the  setting  aside 
of  docks  or  piers  in  order  to  maintain  or 
develop  the  commerce  over  the  canals, 
cf  merchandise  peculiar  to  that  locality, 
well  and  good.  We  have  no  objection, 
but  we  certainly  are  opposed  to  the  se- 
lection of  here  and  there  a  dock  or  pier 
for  the  handling  of  freight  that  in  the 
aggregate  would  represent  but  a  small 
percentage  of  the  business  that  went  over 
the  canal  for  this  port,  if  it  was  the 
means  of  sidetracking  or  preventing  the 
Commission  from  selecting  a  suitable 
terminal  elsewhere  commensurate  wits 
the  needs  of  the  port  and  the  require- 
ments of  the  enlarged  canal  when  utilized 
to  its  fullest  capacity.  The  gentleman 
from  Indiana  gave  the  Commission  good 
advice  yesterday  when  he  said  build  your 
terminals  big  because  we  are  coming  from 
the  West,  the  Middle  West  and  the 
Northwest,  with  large  quantities  of  prod- 
ucts for  the  port  of  New  York  and  the 
railroads  will  be  unable  to  furnish  us 
with  accommodations  to  transport  them, 
and  we  shall  be  obliged  to  use  the  canals 
and  hence  vou  must  furnish  proper  facil- 
ities for  this  large  volume  of  business. 
This  is  undoubtedly  true  for  I  have  heard 
the  presidents  of  several  of  the  largest 
railroads  in  the  United  States  publicly 
say  within  the  past  two  years,  that  th» 


46 


'JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


time  bad  come  when  the  railroads  could 
no  longer  keep  pace  with  the  commerce 
of  the  country  and  that  the  waterways 
must  be  developed  bo  as  to  take  the 
heavy  and  bulky  products  and  relieve  the 
railroads  of  that  class  of  freight.  Some 
of  the  gentlemen  yesterday  advocated  the 
providing  of  terminals  now  that  would 
answer  the  neodg  of  commerce  for  the 
next  few  years  only,  and  intimated  that 
you  would  be  doing  your  whole  duty  It 
you  so  acted.  I  would  remind  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Commission  if  they  took  such 
a  view  of  their  responsibility  in  carrying 
out  the  purposes  of  the  act  that  created 
them,  that  the  people  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  when  they  ordered  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  canal  by  the  expenditure  of 
$100,000,000,  did  not  take  such  a  view  of 
the  canal  question. 

Oh.  no.  They  had  in  view  the  com- 
merce of  the  remote  future  and  not  that 
of  tthe  present  or  near  future.  For  the 
business  of  the  canal  had  not  reached  a 
point  that  required  an  enlargement  to 
accommodate  It,  and  a  traffic  of  less  than 
5.000,000  tons  would  not  require  its  en- 
largement to  a  capacity  of  20,000.000  tons. 
The  people  looked  far  ahead  in  provid- 
ing the  enlarged  barge  canal  and  If  you 
do  your  duty  you.  too,  will  look  ahead 
and  anticipate  the  immense  volume  of 
business  that  will  come  to  this  port  if 
proper  facilities  are  provided,  and  at  this 
time  you  will  select  a  location  where  they 
can  be  had  in  abundance.  Some  of  the 
speakers  in  a  casual  reference  to  Ja- 
maica Bay  did  not  really  object  to  the 
location  tnit  had  doubts  as  to  its  being 
improved  in  time  to  be  available.  On  be- 
half of  the  Jamaica  Bay  Improvement 
Association,  whose  civic  pride  alone 
prompts  them  to  suggest  this  location.  I 
desire  to  state  that  we  urge  this  selec- 
tion, solely  with  the  understanding  and 
upon  the  expressed  condition  that  the  bay 
will  be  improved  and  ready  for  the  ter- 
minal facilities  by  the  time  or  before  the 
work  on  the  canal  is  completed.  The  city 
and  National  government  will  attend  to 
that.  Remember,  the  development  of  Ja- 
maica Bay  does  not  depend  upon  the  lo- 
cation of  the  canal  terminal  there,  but 
the  success  or  failure  of  the  improved 
and  enlarged  canal  does  depend  absolute- 
ly upon  the  character  of  the  terminals 
provided  at  this  end  of  the  state:  and  If 
they  are  cramped  and  congested  because 
of  insufficient  room  to  properly  provide 
the  necessary  appliances  for  the  economi- 
cal and  expeditious  handling  of  the 
freight,  to  that  extent  will  the  canal  be 
a  failure  and  the  state  fail  to  secure  a 
return  for  the  money  expended  in  its 
rebuilding. 

Our  claim  is  that  the  development  of 
Jamaica  Bay  as  a  great  terminal  in  con- 
nection with  the  enlarged  canal,  we  are 
advancing  the  best  interests  of  the  whole 
country  in  providing  facilities  for  trans- 
porting the  products  of  the  country  from 
the  point  of  production  to  the  point  of 
consumption  at  the  lowest  possible  cost. 
The  productive  areas  of  our  country  lie 
in  the  interior  of  the  West  and  North- 
west. The  consumption  of  the  products 
is  largely  in  the  populous  seacoast  cities 
and  in  foreign  countries.  The  seacoast 
harbors  must  accommodate  the  largest 
ships  to  the  end  that  ocean  transportation 
may  be  had  at  the  lowest  possible  cost. 
We  have  learned  that  watergoing  com- 
merce is  the  cheapest,  and  that  for  every 
ton  carried  by  the  railways  at  least  five 
tons  can  be  carried  by  water.  The  price 
of  commodities  in  foreign  markets  fixes 
the  prices  at  home.  In  Europe  where  we 
must  compete,  transportation  facilities 
are  developed  to  the  highest  point,  and 
we  suffer  as  a  consequence  by  not  en- 
joying the  same  facilities  at  home.  The 
price  of  wheat  is  not  fixed  on  the  farms 
of  the  West,  but  at  Liverpool,  and  the 
farmer  gets  the  Liverpool  price  less  the 
cost  of  transportation.  To  show  that 
improved  conditions  do  lessen  the  cost  of 
freight  rates,  let  us  cite  the  following: 

In  1870.  when  New  York's  harbor  had 
a  depth  of  twenty-two  feet,  the  cost  of 
shipping  a  bushel  of  grain  to  Liverpool 


was  22  cents  per  bushel.  When  the  depth 
was  increased  to  twenty-five  feet,  the 
cost  was  reduced  to  18  cents  per  bushel. 
With  thirty-five  feet  of  water,  permitting 
the  entrance  of  larger  vessels,  the  cost 
of  sending  to  the  other  side  is  about  3 
cents  per  bushel.  It  is  estimated  that 
there  is  saved  annually  by  the  people  of 
the  United  States,  by  reason  of  the  deep- 
ened coast  harbors,  in  the  wheat,  corn 
and  cotton  crop  exported  to  foreign  coun- 
tries, $190,000,000.  On  the  Great  Lakes, 
the  average  original  depth  of  thirty- 
seven  harbors  was  4  1-10  feet.  It  is  now 
17  8-10,  and  many  of  them  with  the  con- 
necting channels  between  the  lakes  have 
a  depth  of  twenty-one  feet.  There  has 
been  expended  in  these  improvements 
$70,000,000.  See  the  effect  on  the  freight 
rates  from  Chicago  to  New  York.  In  1870 
freight  on  a  bushel  of  wheat  was  17  cents 
via  lakes  and  canals.  In  1900  it  was  re- 
duced to  4  42-100  cents.  The  competing 
waterway  had  its  effect  also  upon  the 
railroad  and  instead  of  costing  4G  cents 
a  bushel  it  now  costs  by  rail  but  10  5-10 
cents,  a  reduction  of  three-fourths  of  the 
original  cost.  During  the  season  of  navi- 
gation in  1907,  there  passed  through  the 
Sault  Ste.  Marie  Canal  to  the  lakes  about 
CO, 000, 000  tons  of  freight,  upon  which  the 
transportation  charges  amounted  to  $35.- 
000,000.  On  this  one  season's  freight 
alone  there  was  a  saving  of  $210,000,000. 
This  is  a  fair  return  in  one  year  for  an 
expenditure  of  $70,000,000. 

A  word  as  to  the  commerce  at  the  port 
of  New  York.  In  1885  New  York's  per- 
centage of  the  total  foreign  tonnage 
movement  of  the  United  States  was  44.79. 
In  1895,  39.08.  In  1905.  38.03.  While  in 
1908  it  was  less  than  36  per  cent.  From 
1875  to  1905  the  gain  at  New  York  was 
116.8,  while  Boston  gained  234.08;  Phila- 
delphia. 202.6;  Baltimore,  121.6;  New  Or- 
leans, 286.5,  and  Galveston,  795.6.  The 
total  grain  receipts  at  the  Port  of  New 
York  in  189S.  via  rail  and  coastwise,  was 
195.000,000  bushels;  in  1908  the  quantity 
received  was  about  105,000,000  bushels,  or 
nearly  one-half  of  what  was  received  ten 
years  ago. 

A  commission  of  painstaking  engineers, 
appointed  by  Mayor  MeClellan  pursuant 
to  a  resolution  of  the  Board  of  Estimate 
and  Apportionment  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
porting upon  the  genera!  improvement 
and  development  of  Jamaica  Bay.  not  only, 
but  also  upon  the  condition  of  the  water 
front  of  the  City  of  New  York,  after  a 
most  exhaustive  investigation  of  every 
foot  of  unde\-eloped  waterfront  of  Greater 
New  York,  says  that  Jamaica  Bay, 
and  there  alone,  can  be  found  the  loca- 
tion for  the  proper  development  of  the 
harbor  facilities  of  the  Port  of  New  York, 
and  I  will  briefly  refer  to  their  report,  as 
it  deals  with  the  subject  of  the  enlarged 
canal  and  its  effect  upon  the  business  of 
this  port  and  the  need  of  terminal  fa- 
cilities.   They  say: 

It  is  expected  by  those  who  have 
given  the  canal  question  adequate 
thought,  that  not  only  will  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  Erie  Canal  restore  to  New 
York  City  its  former  trade  in  grain,  but 
that  the  metropolis  will  be  benefited  by 
it  in  very  many  ways.  They  point  out 
that  the  discovery  of  iron-ore  beds  in 
the  upper  lake  regions,  taken  in  con- 
nection with  the  cheap  transportation  on 
the  lakes,  has  led  Pennsylvania  to  aban- 
don its  own  beds  and  use  those  of  the 
lakes,  and  they  further  express  their  be- 
lief that  these  discoveries  may  lead  to 
the  centering  of  the  iron  trade  in  the 
State  of  New  York 

A  report  of  the  Committee  on  Canals 
of  New  York  in  1S99  says: 

The  possibilities  of  manufacturing  de- 
velopment along  the  banks  of  the  Niaga- 
ra River,  between  the  Falls  and  Buffalo, 
should  not  be  overlooked  in  considering 
the  transportation  problem.  Factories 
are  already  established  in  the  vicinity  of 
Niagara  Falls  utilizing  the  cheap  power 
obtained  from  the  Falls  to  an  extent  of 
75.000  horse-power,  and  this  will  be 
doubled  in  a  very  few  years. 


The  estimated  capacity  of  the  new  Erie 
Canal  has  been  placed  at  20,000,000  tons. 
While  we  have  confidence  in  the  great 
benefits  that  will  follow  the  canal's  com- 
pletion, still,  rather  than  run  risk  of 
exaggeration,  we  will  place  the  Increased 
tonnage  at  10.000,000  tons.  This,  then, 
must  be  added  to  our  previous  grand  total 
of  112,454,000,  making  122.454,000  tons, 
an  Increase  over  1899  of  42,910,000  tons, 
or  53.9  per  cent. 

The  Port  of  New  York,  therefore, 
must  provide  in  1915  accommodation  for 
one  and  one-half  times  the  amount  of 
shipping  for  which  It  cared  in  1899. 

Unfortunately,  however,  Manhattan 
notwithstanding,  the  efficiency  and  skill 
that  have  characterized  the  development 
of  the  water  front,  is  obliged  at  this 
time  to  contend  not  only  with  the  ill- 
considered  early  foundation  of  the  water- 
side thoroughfare  that  for  the '  greater 
part  circumscribes  its  territory,  but  has 
also  to  pay  a  premium  for  its  natural  ad- 
vantages, since  these  are  the  means  of 
depriving  it  of  adequate  railway  connec- 
tion. Because  of  this  latter  want  the 
Port  of  New  York  has  developed  an  al- 
most perfect  system  of  car  floats,  but 
with  the  rather  dubious  result  of  being 
obliged  to  give  up  thirty-one  per  cent,  of 
Manhattan's  Hudson  River  front,  and 
five  per  cent,  of  the  East  River  front  to 
the  various  railway  companies. 

It  is  possible  that  Manhattan  may  in 
time  secure  its  railway  over  a  portion  of 
the  waterfront.  This  was  proposed  in 
1896  and  1897  by  the  board  of  consulting 
engineers  appointed  by  the  Dock  Depart- 
ment, but,  owing  to  the  vigorous  opposi- 
tion made  by  representative  engineers  of 
the  railroads,  nothing  was  done. 

But  a  far  worse  obstacle  stands  in  the 
way.  Owing  to  the  lack  of  proper  ware- 
house facilities  and  the  impossibility  of 
bridging  the  street  that  would  intervene 
between  them  and  the  water,  if  they 
were  to  locate  on  the  waterfront,  the 
wholesale  dealers  and  manufacturers  of 
Manhattan  in  earlier  times  sought  es- 
tablishment in  widely  separated  parts  of 
the  city.  This  is  really  one  of  the  rea- 
sons why  New  York  has  never  been  re- 
garded by  the  vast  majority  of  people 
as  a  manufacturing  city. 

The  merchant  or  manufacturer,  there- 
fore, is  obliged  to  proceed  to  some  pier 
or  several  (they  may  be  widely  sepa- 
rated), secure  his  consignment  of  mate- 
rial, truck  it  over  miles  of  city  streets 
to  the  warehouse  or  factory,  unpack  it, 
sort  it,  make  it  up,  repack  and  again 
truck  it  back  to  the  wharves  for  ship- 
ment. This  is  all  unnecessary  and  un- 
called for  labor,  and  results  in  additional 
expense  not  only  to  the  manufacturer  and 
consumer,  but  to  the  city  as  a  whole  as 
well,  since  it  is  obliged  to  make  good  the 
wear  and  tear  of  streets.  In  addition  to 
this,  time  and  money  are  constantly  lost 
by  the  resulting  congestion  of  traffic  in  the 
city  streets,  where  lines  of  trucks  the 
full  width  of  the  roadway  and  extending 
in  some  instances  for  two  blocks  from  the 
waterside  street,  may  be  seen  almost  any 
day. 

It  is  from  a  consideration  of  this  re- 
grettable state  of  affairs  that  the  com- 
mission is  led  to  the  following  con- 
clusions: 

First— That  New  York  can  do  much  to 
improve  the  facilities  of  Manhattan  by 
the  introduction  of  more  piers  of  modern 
construction,  similar  to  those  in  the  Chel- 
sea district,  by  installing  first-class 
freight-handling  appliances  and  by  build- 
ing a  terminal  railway,  making  it  .pos- 
sible to  directly  connect  steamer  and  car. 

Second— That  while  it  may,  T>y  putting 
into  effect  the  above  suggested  improve- 
ments, retain  and  encourage  for  Manhat- 
tan the  commercial  and  manufacturing 
industries  already  located  there,  it  is  in 
no  position,  by  reason  of  its  physical  lay- 
out, the  lack  of  available  unimproved 
waterfront  giving  sufficient  pier  lengths 
and  the  excessive  cost  of  land  in  direct 
connection  with  the  water,  to  offer  tempt- 
ing inducements  to  newcomers,  who,  for 


18  .  .    A  4        ...  *       JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


other  obvious  reasons,  are  only  too  anx- 
ious to  settle  in  this  vicinity. 

Why  should  it  not  then  avail  itself  of 
the  extensive  shore  line  of  its  other 
boroughs  au.l  make  use  of  the  natural 
advantages  which  they  have  to  offer?  At 
a  comparatively  small  outlay  it  could 
make  much  of  this  frontage  fit  for  oc- 
cupancy, thereby  increasing  its  revenue 
and  at  th^  same  time  relieving  Manhat- 
tan of  much  of  that  class  of  traffic  which 
tends  to  congest  not  only  its  streets  but 
i:s  adjacent  waterways. 

In  conclusion,  gentlemen.  I  would  say 
that  In  selecting  a  New  York  terminal 
for  the  2.000-ton  barge  canal  now  in 
course  of  construction,  due  consideration 
should  be  given  to  the  locations  most 
favorable  to  the  shipping  and  manufac- 
turing interests,  for  the  prime  object  in 
providing  inland  waterways  is  to  lessen 
the  cost  of  transporting  cargoes. 

The  great  shipments  of  farm  and  forest 
products  from  the  northwest  to  the  At- 
lantic seaboard  should  be  balanced  by 
heavy  freights,  consisting  largely  of  man 
ufactured  articles  that  are  in  demand  in 
the  rural  districts  and  cities  of  the  West. 
To  fuftf  accomplish  the  object  for  which 
tb"  Erie  <anal  is  being  widened  and  deep- 
ened, an  import  and  export  tidewater  ter- 
minal will  be  productive  of  a  national  and 
International  benefit. 


In  reviewing  the  situation  in  and  about 
the  harbor  of  New  York,  physical  con- 
ditions clearly  point  to  the  advantage  of 
securing  a  location  where  ocean-going 
vessels  can  meet  the  cargoes  of  the  canal 
at  a  distributing  center  where  large  ware- 
houses, elevators  and  storehouses  could 
bo  erected  inexpensively.  Transshipment 
from  land  to  sea,  or  vice  versa,  requires 
a  central  point  where  the  cargoes  can  be 
divided  or  portioned,  as  It  were,  through 
a  system  of  grain  elevators  in  the  case 
of  farm  cereals,  and  with  manufactured 
products  and  raw  materials  storehouses 
are  indispensable. 

Your  attention  is  especially  called  to 
Jamaica  Bay  as  affording  all  natural  ad- 
vantages: 

First— It  is  easily  accessible  by  the  nat- 
ural waterway,  viz.:  Hudson  River,  New 
York  Bay,  the  Narrows  and*  Coney  Island 
Channel,  and  by  means  of  a  canal  con- 
necting Flushing  Bay  with  Jamaica  Bay 
at  Cornell  Basin  as  illustrated  in  the 
photographic  view  submitted  herewith. 

Second— All  trunk  railroads  can  reach 
the  bay  by  a  system  of  tunnels  and 
bridges,  such  as  the  Pennsylvania  and  the 
New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford  rail- 
roads are  now  providing. 

Third— The  expense  of  constructing  a 
connecting  link  from  the  Harlem  River 
to  Jamaica  Bay  would  be  as  nothing  com- 


pared with  the  cost  of  improving  the  canal 

from  Buffalo  to  Troy. 

Fourth— Adequate  space  at  the  terminal 
for  factory  sites  accessible  to  water  and 
railriad  transportation  would  add  enor- 
mously to  the  value  of  the  canel  as  a 
public  utility. 


NIXSS  OF  NEW  HARBOR, 

Jamaica  Bay  when  fully  developed  will 
add  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  new 
piers  to  the  harbor  of  New  York. 


AREA. 

Jamaica  Bay  occupies  the  major  por- 
tion of  the  southeast  quarter  of  Greater 
New  York,  consisting  in  all  of  about  15.- 

000  acres. 

Such  a  site  as  the  present  and  future 
commercial  needs  require  is  to  be  found 
at  Jamaica  Bay. 

This  commission  is  earnestly  and  cor- 
dially invited  to  acquaint  themselves  with 
the  merits  of  Jamaica  Bay  as  a  tidewater 
terminal  for  the  Erie  Barge  Canal. 
JAMAICA    BAY    IMPROVEMENT  ASSN. 

N.  B.  KILLMER.  Secretary. 

396  State  street.  Borough  of  Brooklyn, 
New   York.   N.  Y. 


The  Value  of  Improving  Jamaica  Bay  Now 

By  Nathaniel  H.  Levi,  President  Broadway  Board  of  Trade. 


T  can  conceive  of  nothing  in  the  line 
or  improvements  that  has  been  under 
consideration  by  our  authorities  that  Will 
be  so  far-reaching  in  its  influence  upon 
the  growth  and  development  of  Brooklyn, 
I-ong  Island  and.  as  a  matter  of  fact,  all 
the  boroughs  of  our  great  city,  as  the 
improvement  of  Jamaica  Bay  and  Us  de- 
velopment as  a  harbor,  which  those  who 
have  labored  so  long  and  so  strenuously 
in  its  behalf  hope  will  in  due  time  be- 
come one  of  the  finest  harbors  in  the 
world. 

The  more  thought  that  we  give  to  this 
project  the  more  impressed  will  we  be- 
come with  its  vast  importance. 

One  of  the  strongest  features  in  con- 
nection therewith  rests  upon  the  fact 
that  the  location  in  Long  Island  of  the 
terminal  of  the  thousand-ton  canal  now 
building  by  the  State  of  New  York,  at 
an  expense  o£  $101,000,000,  will  depend  on 
the  speedy  improvement  of  Jamaica  Bay, 
for  failing  in  this  we  will  suffer  the  ir- 
reparable loss  consequent  to  the  loca- 
tor 3f  the  barge  canal  terminal  in  New 
•>rscy,  which,  as  I  have  frequently 
stated,  would  be  almost  criminal,  be- 
cause the  people  of  the  State  of  New 
York  having  paid  for  this  canal  should 
not,  under  any  circumstances,  confer  up- 
on any  other  state  the  tremendous  ad- 
vantages which  the  terminal  of  the  barge 
canal  will  offer  to  the  locality  in  which 
it  will  be  located. 

That  there  are  influences  at  work  to 
bring  about  the  placing  of  this  terminal 
in  New  Jersey  is  evidenced  by  the  fact 
that  Elbrldge  G.  Snow,  a  member  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  president  of 
the  Home  Insurance  Company,  has  strong- 


ly advocated  the  locating  of  the  terminal 
of  the  barge  canal  in  the  Hudson  River, 
on  the  New    Jersey    shore,  near  Wee- 
hawken,  and  it  will  take  some  concerted 
effort  to  counteract  the  powerful  influ- 
I  ences  which  are  at  work  for  the  purpose 
of  locating  this  important  terminal  on 
the  Jersey  shore,  and  the  very  strongest 
aid  we  can  give  our  opponents  is  to  ne- 
glect to  put  Jamaica  Bay  in  shape  so  as 
to  afford  the   proper   facilities  for  the 
barge  canal,  for  in  which  event  there 
would  be  no   other   alternative   but  to 
locate  it  in  New  Jersey.     But  we  hope 
thai  our  authorities  will  join  the  civic 
bodies  in  their  efforts  and  aid  with  all 
the  means  at  their  command  to  hasten 
the  development  of  Jamaica  Bay,  so  as 
io  have  it  in  proper  condition   to  have 
the  terminal   located   therein    when  the 
barge  canal  is  completed,  in  1914.  Those 
j  who  have  made  a  close  study  of  the  situ- 
ation have  viewed    with  more    or  less 
I  alarm  the  inroads  which  the  smaller  ports 
have  been  making  upon  the  commerce  of 
I  New  York,  threatening,  as  it  were,  the 
i  commercial  supremacy  of  our  great  city. 
I  because  of  deficient  docking  facilities  and 
I  our  lack  of   open  piers.     But  with  the 
development  of  Jamaica  Bay  as  a  harbor 
|  in  progress,  these  inroads  will  cease,  and 
|  thus  assure   to  our  city  a  commercial 
\  supremacy  which  we  hope  will  not  be 
endangered  for  centuries  to  come. 

Dock  Commissioner  Calvin  Tomkins,  at 
a  hearing  held  before  him  on  February 
j  10,  stated  that  there  was  great  and  ur- 
!  gent  necessity  for  better  dockage  facili- 
|  ties  along  the  water  front,  both  in  Brook- 
i  lyn  and  Manhattan,  and  Mr.  Tomkins  also 
!  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  was 
!  a  great  lack  of  open  piers,  all  of  which 
'  points  to  the  conclusion  that  unless  this 
!  deplorable  situation  is  met  by  the  speedy 
I development  Of  Jamaica  Bay  as  a  harbor, 
I  the  inroads  upon  the  commerce  of  New 


I  York  spoken  of    previously  will  continue 

jand  its  commercial  supremacy   will  be 

'  placed  in  the  balance. 

In  view  of  the  vast  importance  of  this 

1  project  our  congressmen  must  be  urged 
to  keep  up  their  good  work  in  Congress 

I  continually  in  order  that  there  be  no  nu- 
necessary  delay  in  the  granting  of  the 
appropriations  for  the  carrying  on  of  this 

!  project. 

Our  authorities  are  alive  to  its  great 
I  significance  and  will,  we  hope,  do  their 
|  share  and  it  is  up  to  Congress  to  do  its 
part,  and  Congressmen  Law  and  his  con- 
freres from  Brooklyn,  Manhattan,  Queens 
and  Richmond  can  no  doubt  be  counted 
!  upon  to  keep  the  pot  boiling. 
I  When  the  barge  canal  is  completed, 
which,  as  stated  before,  will  be  in  about 
four  years  hence,  it  is  presumed  that 
20,000  to  25.000  tons  of  freight  will  be 
j  brought  to  New  York  and  it  is  extremely 
'  important  that  ample  provisions  be  made 
I  to  care  tor  this  increased  traffic,  and  this 
can  be  best  accomplished  by  the  speedy 
!  development  of  Jamaica  Bay. 
I  Nature,  it  seems,  has  been  very  gener- 
'ous  to  us  in  placing  within  easy  reach  a 
,  place  which  can  readily  be  made  one  of 
|  the  most  perfectly  sheltered  harbors  in 
:  the  world,  and  if  properly  constructed  it 
could  be  intersected  in  such  a  manner 
I  with  deep  water  channels  that  all  points 
lot  importance  in  its  vicinity  could  read- 
ily be  reached  by  the  largest  freight  and 
passenger  steamers  afloat. 
I  I  feel  that  the  possibilities  which  the 
J  improvement  of  Jamaica  Bay  holds  out 
i  and  its  extremely  far-reaching  impor- 
.  lance  to  the  city  and  State  of  New  York, 
inasmuch  as  it  will  bring  about  when 
completed  a  largely  increased  business 
and  the  development  of  miles  of  marsh 
i  lands  and  worthless  places,  amply  just- 
I  ify  the  expenditure  of  the  many  mil- 
I  lions  of  dollars  necessary  to  complete  this 
imost  Important  work. 


The  Building  of  Jamaica  Bay  Harbor 


By  Frederick  Boyd  Stevenson. 


With  an  appropriation  of  $1,000,000  by 
the  City  of  New  York  for  preliminary 
dredging,  backed  by  $7,430,050  from  the 
United  States  Government  for  the  dredg- 
ing of  Rockaway  Inlet,  the  magnifi- 
cent inner  harbor  of  Jamaica  Bay— 
a  harbor  that  will  rival  all  other  great 
harbors  of  the  world — is  at  last  assured. 
The  dream  has  become  a  reality.  'As  one 
calmly  looks  over  the  facts  and  the  fig- 
ures the  magnitude  of  this  wonderful 
project  takes  possession  of  him.  Here, 
briefly,  is  the  extent  of  the  gigantic  en- 
terprise. 

An  ample  and  a  secure  harbor  for 
mighty  ocean  vessels  crossing  the  Atlan- 
tic; terminals  for  the  ships  and  the 
barges  of  the  huge  barge  canal  under  con- 
struction by  the  State  of  New  York  at 
a  proposed  cost  of  $101,000,000,  affording 
direct  marine  communication  with  the 
chain  of  Great  Lakes;  wharf ing  capacity 
for  the  vessels  that  will  be  engaged  in 
the  coastwise  trade  upon  the  completion 
of  the  Panama  Canal;  a  solution  for  all 
time  to  come  to  the  dockage  problem  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  which,  under  pres- 
ent conditions,  is  driving  the  commerce 
oi  the  merchant  marine  to  other  ports; 
a  practical  and  natural  terminal  for  all 
railway  lines  of  the  United  States,  afford- 
ing an  immediate  interchange  of  freight 
shipments  by  rail  and  by  water;  the  re- 
clamation of  useless  land,  valued  at  $12,- 
000.000  to  $15,000,000,  the  title  to  which 
will  be  vested  In  the  city,  and  which  will 
be  available  for  Innumerable  sites  for 
warehouses,  grain  elevators,  factories, 
industrial  plants  and  homes  for  work- 
insmen. 

On  the  completion  of  the  project,  the 
ultimate  cost  of  which  will  be  from  $70,- 
000,000  to  $100,000,000,  the  City  of  New 
York  will  be  provided  with  a  supplement- 
ary harbor  of  magnificent  proportions, 
the  entrance  to  which  will  be  through  a 
1,500-foot  channel  to  be  dredged  throjgh 
Rockaway  Inlet,  and  which  will  be 
equipped  with  one  hundred  ana  fifty  miles 
of  piers  and  wharves  long  enough  to  ac- 
commodate the  biggest  ocean  steamers. 
Here,  a  few  miles  northeast  of  Sandy 
Hook,  Is  the  natural  gateway  of  the  At- 
lantic. It  is  sheltered  from  the  open 
ocean  by  the  long  protecting  arm  of 
Rockaway  Beach.  The  bay  has  a  water 
surface  of  16.170  acres,  twenty-five  and 
a  half  square  miles,  surrounded  by  low 
marshes  on  three  sides  which  aggregate 
8,500  acres.  In  addition  there  are  4,200 
acres  of  marsh  lands  apart  from  the  main 
body,  so  that  Jamaica  Bay,  with  its  ad- 
jacent marsh  lands,  covers  a  territory  of 
"8,970  acres,  equivalent  to  forty-five  and  a 
half  square  miles,  which  is  double  the 
area  of  the  Borough  of  Manhattan.  The 
shore  line  of  the  bay  approximates  twen- 
ty-live miles  and,  with  the  creeks  and 
waterways  filled  in  and  the  chief  channels 
cut,  there  will  be  an  available  docking  ca- 
pacity to  provide  for  all  time  to  come. 
Three  islands  whicb  can  be  made  avail- 


able, and  the  shores  of  the  main- 
land will  afford  room  for  these  wharves 
and  piers.  Barren  Island,  which  is  the 
northern  shore  of  Rockaway  Inlet,  is 
backed  by  a  score  of  islands,  and  Riches 
Point  Meadows,  capable  of  easy  reclama- 
tion and  consolidation.  These  could  form 
what  would  be  known  as  Yv'est  Island. 
The  central  archipelago  could  be  merged 
into  two  companion  islands  to  be  known 
as  North  and  South  Islands.  Between 
them,  from  east  to  west,  would  run  the 
ship  canal,  five  miles  long  and  lined  on 
both  sides  with  piers."  This  would  be 
the  main  channel,  1,500  feet  wide  and 
thirty  feet  deep. 

Thus,  if  this  harbor  had  been  laid  out 
by  man,  with  the  needs  of  the  shipping 
interests  of  the  United  States  and  the 
metropolis  in  view,  it  could  not  have 
been  planned  with  greater  advantage  to 
both  than  Nature  has  provided.  The  bav 
is  bounded  on  the  south  by  long,-  low 
sand  dunes,  known  as  Rockaway  Beach, 
on  the  easterly  and  central  parts  and  on 
the  westerly  part  as  Rockaway  Point; 
on  the  north  by  the  meadows  lying  in  the 
old  town  of  Jamaica  in  Queens  County, 
and  by  the  Twenty-sixth  and  Thirty- 
second  wards  in  Kings  County;  on  the 
west  by  marsh  land.  To  the  north  of  the 
main  entrance  to  the  harbor  is  Barren 
Island.  From  ths  City  Hall,  Manhattan, 
it  is  eight  miles  to  Gerritson  Creek,  to 
Bergen  Beach  and  to  Canarsie  Landing. 
From  the  same  point  it  is  ten  miles  to 
Barren  Island  and  eleven  miles  from 
Rockaway  Point  at  the  Inlet.  Rockaway 
Point  is  six  and  five-eight  sea  miles  from 
Saudy  Hook.  These  points  form  the  pass 
through  which  all  the  ebb  waters  of  the 
upper  and  lower  bays  of  New  York  Har- 
bor, including  Jamaica  Bay,  the  Hudson 
River  and  much  of  the  East  River,  are 
obliged  to  go  on  their  way  to  sea. 

We  have  seen  the  import  nce  of  this 
improvement  in  its  relation  to  the  water- 
ways leading  inland  and  to  Europe,  an<! 
the  importance  is  greatly  increased  by 
the  proposed  railway  connections  that 
form  p?*rt  of  the  general  plan.  The  Long 
Island  Railway  already  traverses  the 
islands  known  as  North  and  South 
Islands.  On  the  Long  Island  shore  would 
be  four  long  rectangular  basins  where 
the  Pennsylvania  and  other  railroads 
could  be  provided  with  terminals  from 
which  they  could  run  trains  through 
the  East  River  and  North  River  tubes 
to  New  Jersey  and  on  across  the  conti- 
nent. The  land  on  which  these  terminals 
could  be  built  belongs  to  the  city  by  the 
terms  of  special  grant  of  the  state.  Along 
the  outer  margins  of  the  proposed  West, 
North  and  South  Islands  and  the  main- 
land, with  which  they  could  connect  by 
trestle,  a  terminal  railroad  would  link  the 
numerous  piers  one  with  another,  and  en- 
able the  Long  Island,  the  Pennsylvania. 

the  New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford. 

and  the  New  York  Central  systems,  by 
I  means  of  tunnels  .under  the  East  River,  to 

"    .-«i.'.*>-v?v  . 


transfer  and  receive  cargoes  at  the  wa- 
ter's edge.  The  Connecting  Railroad, 
now  building,  which  runs  from  Bay  Ridge 
on  New  York  Bay,  through  Brooklyn  and 
the  Borough  of  Queens,  crossing  the  East 
River  to  the  Bronx,  and  forming  a  tie-line 
between  all  these  railroads,  taps  Jamaica 
Bay  where  it  crosses  Fresh  Creek,  only 
a  short  distance  from  the  bay  itself.  The 
Connecting  Railroad  is  to  be  a  great 
trunk  line.  It  will  permit  the  entrance 
of  all  railroads  into  the  city  and  fur- 
nish them  a  means  of  entering  this  ex- 
tensive waterfront.  In  the  proposed  plan 
it  is  intended  that  merchandise  may  be 
unloaded,  upon  almost  any  one  of  the 
piers  to  be  constructed,  and  from  there 
placed  directly  into  a  car  which  will  take 
it  to  its  destination  in  any  part  of  the 
United  States.  The  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road is  planning  terminals  along  the 
waterfront  so  as  to  touch  at  every 
dock  when  completed.  With  all  these 
shipping  facilities  in  view,  it  is  estimated 
that  the  improvement  of  Jamaica  Bay 
will  effect  a  reduction  of  $1  a  ton  in 
freight  rates  to  that  section,  because 
wharfage  accommodations  with  railroad 
connections  will  be  secured,  thus  over- 
coming the  serious  objections  to  the 
present  terminals. 

Aside  from  providing  terminal  facilities 
for  the  great  railway  systems  of  the 
country  Jamaica  Bay  will,  in  all  likeli- 
hood, be  the  tidewater  terminal  of  the 
2.000-ton  Barge"  Canal  of  New  York  State. 
Barges  from  the  great  canal  could  leave 
the  Hudson  River  at  Spuyten  Duyvil,  go- 
ing through  the  proposed  Harlem  Ship 
Canal,  Harlem  River,  Bronx  Kills,  and 
East  River  to  Flushing  Bay.  Thence,  It 
has  been  suggested,  that  an  eight-mile 
canal  might  be  cut  through  to  Jamaica 
Bay  Harbor,  following  Flushing  Creek  for 
three  miles,  and  entering  Jamaica  Bay  at 
Cornell's  basin.  Thus  a  direct  inside 
route  would  be  afforded  with  the  Barge 
Canal  and  the  Great  Lakes,  and  this  com- 
munication will  be  extended  to  Europe 
both  in  freight  and  passenger  service. 
All  the  important  ocean  passenger  liners 
will  dock  in  Jamaica  Bay  Harbor,  and 
when  the  project  has  reached  completion 
it  will  be  possible  to  step  from  a  trans- 
atlantic steamship  directly  into  a  trans- 
continental railway  train,  so  that  a  tour- 
ist can  go  from  San  Francisco  to  Liver- 
pool entirely  under  cover. 

There  are  other  features,  however,  that 
are  being  considered,  among  them  the 
waterway  of  Coney  Island  ship  canal, 
sometimes  called  Gilman's  Channel,  and 
Gravcsend  Bay  connecting  with  Jamaica 
Bay.  This  channel  will  provide  another 
safe  inside  route  from  New  York  Bay 
through  Coney  Island  Ship  Canal  to 
Sbeepshead  Bay  and  on  the  Jamaica  Bay, 
thus  avoiding  an  outside  ocean  route. 
Great  South  Bay  could  also  be  connected 
by  a  canal  with  Jamaica  Bay  along  the 
Eouth  shore  of  Long  Island  by  converging 
I  the  waterway  into  canals  that  would  pro- 
I  v.de    a    waterway    for  moderate;CiZ9d 


20 


JAMAICA  BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


crafts  from  Jamaica  Bay  to  Peconic  Bay 
during  all  the  stages  of  tide. 

One  of  the  most  important  features  of 
the  proposed  undertaking— from  a  local 
viewpoint,  at  leaet— is  the  dockage  ques- 
tion. The  growth  of  the  City  of  New  York 
has  been  so  rapid  that  it  has  outgrown 
the  facilities  of  its  water  fronts.  Dock 
rentals  have  reached  an  almost  prohib- 
itive figure.  From  1898  to  1907  the  in- 
crease in  wharfage  accommodations,  both 
private  and  public,  was  only  22  per  cent., 
and  It  was  admitted  by  the  Dock  Depart- 
ment that  this  was  due  to  the  want  of 
accommodations,  steamships  being  driven 
to  other  ports.  This  was  only  the  begin- 
ing  of  the  trouble,  for  since  those  years 
the  demands  for  dockage  have  greatly 
increased. 

In  the  meantime  the  increase  of  foreign 
commerce  at  the  port  of  New  York,  from 
1898  to  1907.  was  more  than  75  per  cent., 
despite  the  inadequate  wharfage  facilities. 
In  round  figures  this  meant  that  the  in- 
crease was  from  $847,000,000  to  $1,482,- 
000,000.  On  the  other  hand,  from  1880 
to  1898  there  was  a  decrease  of  more  than 
$4,000,000.  Therefore,  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  foreign  commerce  of  the  port  is  gain- 
ing in  an  astonishing  ratio  and  will  soon 
be  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the  present 
wharfage  facilities.  There  can  be  but  one 
result  to  this  situation:  Unless  a  harbor 
with  adequate  dockage  ie  ready,  these 
vast  shipping  interests  will  seek  other 
ports.  Already  Canada  is  actively  en- 
gaged in  the  race  to  obtain  supremacy 
for  Montreal  as  the  chief  Atlantic  port 
and  is  spending  millions  in  its  better- 
ment, while  private  capital  in  that  coun- 
try is  planning  a  Georgian  Bay  canal, 
and  the  government  is  projecting  a  trans- 
continental railway,  with  the  lowest 
gradient  of  any  that  crosses  the  Rocky 
Mountain  range,  which  will  provide  the 
cheapest  methods  of  transportation  be- 
tween England  and  the  Orient.  Aside 
from  possible  Canadian  competition,  how- 
ever, there  i6  the  danger  of  the  neigh- 
boring cities  of  New  Jersey  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  situation.  There  have  been 
also  ambitious  plans  on  foot  for  great 
harbors  at  Boston  and  Montauk  Point, 
but  now  that  the  Jamaica  Bay  project  is 
safely  on  its  way.  these  plans  will  be 
abandoned. 

The  first  work  on  this  great  under- 
taking will  be  started  this  summer  by 
Dock  Commissioner  Tomkins,  and  will 
consist  of  the  erection  of  a  bulkhead  on 
Fresh  Creek  on  the  north  shore  of  the 
bay,  and  the  dredging  of  a  400-foot  en- 
trance to  the  creek  connecting  with  the 
government's  500-foot  channel  from  the 
inner  corner  of  Barren  Island  seaward. 
The  creek  it6elf  will  then  be  dredged  to 
a  width  of  400  feet,  and  when  completed 
will  be  7,000  feet  long.  On  the  made 
ground  of  the  east  shore  a  tract  of  land 
will  be  reserved  for  factory  sites,  back 
of  which  will  run  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
way. Shipping  yards  will  occupy  the  space 
nearest  the  water.  On  the  opposite  shore 
will  run  the  Canarsie  branch  of  the 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Railway.  Contin- 
uations of  Denton,  Skldmore,  Seaview  and 
other  streets  will  terminate  there. 

Now  that  this  huge  project  is  on  the 
verge  of  accomplishment,  the  question 
naturally  asked  is:  "Who  started  the 
movement?"  A  comparative  small  body 
of  men  possessed  of  a  dynamic  personal 
force  have  been  the  originators  and  the 


promoters  of  this  proposition,  which  will 
revolutionize  the  shipping  and  com- 
mercial interests  of  the  city,  the  state 
and  the  nation.  The  movement  is  the 
work  of  the  Jamaica  Bay  Improvement 
Association,  a  civic  body  which  is  the 
creation  of  the  Allied  Boards  of  Trade, 
which  decided  that  the  subject  was  so 
big  and  so  important  that  it  ought  to 
be  pressed  by  an  organization  having  the 
furtherance  of  this  plan  for  its  sole 
work.  The  president  of  this  association 
is  Henry  A.  Meyer  of  Flatbush,  who  may 
be  considered  the  father  of  the  entire 
plan.  It  was  he  who  first  put  into  prac- 
tical use  the  details  of  the  project  and 
whose  force  brought  to  a  successful  ter- 
mination the  work  done  by  his  organi- 
zation in  the  last  four  years.  The  other 
members  of  the  association,  all  of  whom 
have  been  active  in  the  work,  and  to 
whom  the  public  is  under  deep  obliga- 
tion, are:  Elwin  S.  Piper,  first  vice  presi- 
dent; John  R.  Corbin,  second  vice  presi- 
dent; George  W.  Wilson,  third  vice  presi- 
dent; N.  B.  Killmer,  secretary;  James 
Russell  Curley,  treasurer.  The  advisory 
committee  consists  of  Abraham  Abraham, 
John  Adikes,  William  Berri,  David  A. 
Boody,  George  W.  Brush,  M.D.;  Bird  S. 
Coler,  Julian  D.  Fairchild,  Edward  M. 
Grout,  Lawrence  Gresser,  McDougall 
Hawkes,  F.  J.  H.  Kracke,  William  Mc- 
Carroll,  Herman  A.  Metz,  St.  Clair  Mc- 
Kelway,  Andrew  McLean,  Charles  R. 
Norman;  Thomas  P.  Peters,  L.  H.  Pounds, 
George  H.  Roberts,  I.  S.  Remson,  Samuel 
Rowland,  Calvin  Tompkins,  Andrew  F. 
Wilson,  W.  F.  Wyckoff.  Another  man 
who  should  be  especially  mentioned  is 
Congressman  Charles  B.  Law,  who  repre- 
sents the  Eastern  District  of  Brooklyn 
and  who  worked  for  the  project  early  and 
late  in  Washington.  Then  we  must  not 
forget  the  untiring  efforts  of  the  Ja- 
maica Bay  Improvement  Commission, 
composed  of  Philip  P.  Farley,  president; 
William  G.  Ford,  secretary,  and  John  J. 
McLaughlin,  who  from  first  to  last,  have 
been  loyal  to  the  plan. 

In  the  early  stages  of  the  agitation  of 
the  movement,  Henry  A.  Meyer  and  John 
R.  Corbin  induced  a  party,  composed  of 
city  officials  and  congressmen,  to  visit 
Jamaica  Bay  and  look  over  the  situation. 
Now  Mr.  Meyer  is  a  pretty  good  talker, 
and  he  was  so  well  versed  on  his  subject 
that  he  won  over  many  of  those  who  were 
present  on  that  occasion.  He  interviewed 
Congressman  (now  Senator)  Burton,  who 
was  then  chairman  of  the  Rivers  and 
Harbors  Committee  and  is  now  chairman 
of  the  National  Waterways  Commission, 
and  convinced  him  that  the  project  for 
Jamaica  Bay  was  logical  and  feasible. 
Since  that  time  Senator  Burton  has  been 
the  fast  friend  of  the  plan.  Then  a  reve- 
nue cutter  went  there  four  years  ago, 
and  since  then  things  have  begun  to 
move.  The  Jamaica  Bay  Improvement 
Association  was  formed,  and,  with  Mr. 
Meyer  at  its  head,  remarkable  work  was 
done. 

Mr.  Meyer's  study  into  this  question  ex- 
tends back  a  number  of  years.  He  has 
traveled  extensively  in  Europe  and  in- 
vestigated the  great  foreign  harbors. 

"In  the  City  of  Hamburg."  said  he  the 
other  day  in  conversation  with  the  writer, 
"eighty  million  dollars  have  been  expend- 
ed by  the  city  In  improving  the  harbor. 
The  city  refuses  the  aid  of  the  govern- 
ment in  maintaining  and  improving  this 


wonderful  harbor.   There  are  600  electric 

derricks  on  the  docks.  In  other  parts  of 
Europe  the  harbors  are  highly  developed 
and  the  governments  are  keenly  alive  to 
the  need  of  caring  for  the  merchant  mar- 
ine. The  Barge  Canal  of  New  York  State 
will  be  finished  in  1914  to  the  Hudson 
River,  which  the  United  States,  by  an 
appropriation  of  $1,500,000,  will  deepen  all 
the  way.  but  no  provision  was  made  for 
terminals  which  are  as  necessary  as  the 
canal  itself.  The  dockage  of  New  York 
is  so  inadequate  that  it  can  hardly  be 
taken  Into  account  at  all.  New  York 
City  at  one  time  was  the  center  of  large 
grain  interests,  but  to-day  the  city  has 
only  one  grain  elevator.  By  the  provis- 
ions of  the  legislative  act  the  state  cede« 
to  the  city  from  thirteen  to  sixteen  thou- 
sand acres  of  land  that  now  lie  waste 
and  profitless,  but  which  can  be  easily 
reclaimed  and  converted  into  223,000  lota 
which  the  city  can  sell  for  dwelling  pur- 
poses, or  factory  sites  or  utilize  for  pub- 
lic parks.  The  money  realized  from  the 
sale  of  this  land  would  be  more  than  suf- 
ficient to  pay  for  the  cost  of  construct- 
ing the  waterway.  The  land  ceded  to  the 
city  constitutes  about  one-half  of  the 
reclaimable  land  in  this  section." 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  men- 
tioned that  the  charge  has  been  made 
that  this  movement  is  a  real  estate 
scheme,  by  means  of  which  speculators 
expect  to  make  millions.  Men  whose  mo- 
tives cannot  be  questioned  deny  this. 
There  will  be  a  certain  amount  of  specu- 
lation attending  the  promotion  of  any 
great  project.  In  the  buildings  of  a  rail- 
road, for  instance,  there  are  always  men 
who  will  make  money  out  of  land  deals. 
When  the  subway  was  constructed  in 
Manhattan  fortunes  were  made  In  options 
in  Washington  Heights,  but  nobody  has 
suggested  that  on  this  account  the  sub- 
way ought  not  to  have  been  built.  Out- 
side o£  Jamaica,  which  has  a  population 
of  nearly  50,000,  the  sections  which  will 
be  most  directly  interested  are  the 
Twenty-sixth  and  Thirty-second  wards  in 
Brooklyn.  The  center  of  population  in 
the  Twenty-sixth  Ward,  which  Is  esti- 
mated at  100,000  and  is  constantly  grow- 
ing at  the  rate  of  9  per  cent,  yearly,  Is 
only  two  miles  from  the  north  shore  of 
Jamaica  Bay  and  one  mile  from  the  head 
of  Fresh  Creek  at  the  point  where  the 
Long  Island  Railway  crosses  the  water- 
way. In  the  Thirty-second  Ward,  which 
is  known  as  Flatlands.  and  forming  part 
of  the  boundary  of  Jamaica  Bay,  Avenue 
N  is  only  six  city  blocks  from  the  head 
of  Mill  Creek  along  the  main  street, 
which  is  Flatbush  avenue.  Flatlands  has 
a  population  of  about  18,000,  Increasing 
at  the  rate  of  12  per  cent,  annually. 
Flatbush.  nearby,  has  a  population  of 
more  than  50,000.  These  sections  will 
doubtless  be  benefited  by  the  improve- 
ment. Next  to  them  the  Twenty-ninth 
and  Twenty-fourth  wards  will  gain.  But 
these  four  wards  have  gained  remarkably 
in  the  last  three  years  without  the  build- 
ing of  the  Jamaica  waterway,  for  during 
the  years  1907.  1908  and  1D09,  10,348  build- 
ings were  erected  there  at  a  cost  of 
$67,500,000. 

Mr.  Meyer's  attention  was  called  to 
this  talk  concerning  the  speculators. 

"It  is  true,"  said  he.  "that  speculators 
are  trying  to  make  money  out  of  the 
movement.  That  is  all  the  more  reason 
why  the  city  should  be  prompt  to  con- 
demn the  remainder  of  the  land  not  ceded 
to  it  by  the  state.  It  may  result  In  some 
of  the  holders  making  money,  but  It  can 
be  secured  much  cheaper  now  than  after 
the  improvement  is  under  way.  There  Is 
much  of  this  land  now  that  the  specula- 
tors have  not  secured,  and  hence  the 
necessity  of  immediate  action  on  the  part 
of  the  city.  This  land  wll  become  very 
valuable  and  the  city  should  take  advan- 
tage of  the  situation  at  once." 


One  Thousand  Ton  Barge  Terminal 

By  Elbridge  C.  Snow,  of  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce. 


It  seems  to  me  that  of  the  proposed 
terminals  for  the  new  State  Barge  Canal, 
that  of  all  the  locations  which  have  been 
suggested,  Jamaica  Bay  is  the  least 
practical  and  desirable.  It  is  the  farthest 
removed  from  the  points  where  merchan- 
dise going  by  this  route  would  be  des- 
tined and  would  require  the  towing  of 
the  barges  through  the  entire  harbor, 
through  the  Narrows  and  the  Lower  Bay, 
and  along  the  ocean  front  of  Coney 
Island  to  Rockaway  Inlet.  The  handling 
of  large  Hudson  River  tows  in  the  Hud- 
son River  below  the  upper  railroad  ter- 
minals has  always  been  a  matter  of  great 
inconvenience  and  considerable  danger  to 
harbor  traffic.  These  slow-moving  tows 
have  in  the  past  been  broken  up  after 
passing  Grant's  Tomb,  and  boats  destined 
for  points  along  the  river  front,  the 
various  railroad  terminals,  the  building 
material  market  and  the  lumber  distri- 
bution points,  are  taken  from  these 
tows  by  tugboats  as  they  come  down 
the  lower  part  of  the  Hudson  River,  and 
after  that  pass  through  the  harbor.  This 
operation  necessarily  calls  for  a  slowing 
up  of  the  tow,  and  this  is  often,  I  may 
say,  customarily,  done  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  obstruct  the  ferries  leading  from 
New  York  City  to  Jersey  points,  and  in- 
terfere with  the  navigation  of  vessels 
bound  up  and  down  the  North  River  and 
through  the  bay  and  up  the  East  River. 
It  is  probable  that  this  practice  will  very 
largely  continue  in  the  future  and  with 
the  increased  congestion  of  our  harbor, 
due  to  enlargement  of  the  local  trade 
and  a  larger  number  of  steam  and  towed 
vessels,  will  tend  to  greatly  aggravate 
conditions  which  are  at  present  as  serious 
as  ought  to  be  permitted. 

The  large  tows  bound  north  and  south 
between  New  York  City  and  Perth  and 
South  Amboy,  are,  even  at  the  present 
time,  much  complained  of  as  interfering 
with  naTigatlon  all  the  way  from  the 
Communipaw  Docks  to  Robin's  Reef.  The 
traffic  in  and  out  of  the  East  River  is  of 


large  volume  and  the  conditions  of  navi- 
gation are  not  by  any  means  easy  under 
present  conditions.  Tows  bound  up  and 
down  the  bay  between  the  mouth  of  the 
Kill  von  Kull  and  the  East  and  North 
rivers  frequently  find  weather  conditions 
so  hazardous  as  to  compel  them  to  tie 
up  at  some  point  before  entering  that 
part  of  the  harbor  indicated.  Every  year 
for  many  years  past  one  or  more  serious 
disasters  has  befallen  tows  navigating 
that  part  of  the  Upper  Bay,  and  the 
courts  have  been  resorted  to  in  endless 
litigation  growing  out  of  the  handling  of 
large  tows  in  these  localities.  Incoming 
and  outgoing  transatlantic  and  coastwise 
steamers  find  their  navigation  seriously 
hampered  by  vessels  engaged  in  the  trade, 
and  frequent  mishaps  have  arisen  there- 
from. 

If  the  barge  terminal  should  be  lo- 
cated in  Jamaica  Bay,  this  would  add 
another,  and,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  very 
large  factor  to  the  situation,  with  the 
steamship  navigators  already  complaining 
of  the  difficulties  which  they  encounter 
between  large  tows  in  the  harbor  and 
the  dumping  scow  tows  bound  for  the 
dumping  grounds  off  Sandy  Hook,  it  can- 
not be  questioned  that  the  addition  of 
tows  necessarily  trading  between  a  ter- 
minal in  Jamaica  Bay  and  points  on  the 
state  canal  would  add  another  and  very 
serious  disadvantage  to  our  harbor  as  a 
port. 

Besides  this,  it  is  a  fact  that  even  in 
the  summer  months  a  slow  moving  tow 
going  out  through  the  Narrows  and  after 
leaving  Gravesend  Bay,  would  find  itself 
at  times  in  serious  difficulty  before  it 
could  reach  Rockaway  Inlet.  Even  with 
the  comparatively  few  vessels  now  mak- 
ing their  routes  between  the  Lower  Bay 
and  Rockaway  Inlet,  there  have  been 
numerous  and  disastrous  accidents, 
growing  out  of  sudden  storms  arising  be- 
fore a  safe  refuge  could  be  made.  Rock- 
away Inlet  itself  has  an  ever-shifting 
channel,  and  the  cost  of  making  of  such 
width  and  keeping  it  in  such  condition  as 


to  make  it  at  -all  available  as  a  terminal 
for  tows  and  barges  would  be  enormous. 
Besides  this,  it  is  to  be  expected  that 
barges  coming  from  points  in  the  interior 
and  using  the  state  canal  will  have  car- 
goes bound  to  various  points  in  Manhat- 
tan, Brooklyn  and  points  on  Long 
Island  Sound  and  in  New  Jersey.  It  is 
anticipated  that  much  of  the  merchandise 
that  would  come  in  these  barges  will  bo 
for  trans-shipment  on  ocean-going  or 
coastwise  vessels,  and  a  terminal  so  re- 
moved as  the  Jamaica  Bay  suggestion 
would  seem  to  be  outside  of  all  reason- 
able consideration. 

With  the  erection  of  the  New  York  and 
New  Jersey  Bridge,  the  danger  and  Incon- 
venience of  the  situation  would  be  greatly 
enhanced,  and  there  are  undoubtedly  far 
more  available  situations  above  the  point 
where  the  new  bridge  is  projected  than 
any  that  could  be  suggested  south  of  such 
a  point. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  locating  the 
new  terminal  very  careful  consideration 
shall  be  given  to  future  developments  of 
the  port,  and  that  no  conclusion  favoring 
any  single  interest  may  enter  into  its 
determination.  The  location  of  the  ter- 
minal in  Jamaica  Bay  would  undoubt- 
edly be  of  enormous  advantage  to  the 
one  railroad  operating  in  Long  Island, 
but  that  does  not  argue  that  such  a  lo- 
cation would  be  for  the  best  interests 
of  the  commerce  of  this  port. 

Besides  all  the  disadvantages  and  in- 
conveniences of  transporting  tows  of 
barges  through  the  river  and  harbor,  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  time  is  a 
cost  important  factor,  and  that  ihis  class 
of  tows  must  necessarily  move  slowly 
and  at  such  a  distance  from  the  center, 
the  loss  of  time  going  to  and  from  the 
terminal  would  be  very  considerable,  be- 
sides the  additional  expense  of  that  tow- 
age and  the  further  fact  that  its  location 
would  be  such  that  at  frequent  intervals 
the  tows  would  have  to  await  farorable 
weather  conditions  before  being  able  to 
leave  or  proceed  to  such  a  terminal. 


The  Influence  of  the  Jamaica  Bay 
Improvement  on  Real  Estate. 

%  ; ;    By  Elwin  S.  Piper.    . .  jj; 


The  ultimate  and  relatively  early  trans- 
formation of  Jamaica  Bay  from  an  enor- 
mous lagoons  to  one  of  the  world's  greatest 
harbors  is  no  longer  a  dream,  but  a  fore- 
gone conclusion.  It  is  just  as  certain  as 
death,  and  taxes.  There  is  no  other  way 
to  adequately  accommodate  the  rapidly 
increasing  commerce  of  this  port,  that 
has  already  outgrown  and  overflown  the 
area  of  our  present  harbor  and  its  facili- 
ties. But  if  there  were  a  dozen  other 
ways,  still  would  Jamaica  Bay  present 
the  ideal  way.  A  natural  basin  right  on 
the  ocean  front,  with  an  area  of  twenty- 
five  square  miles  perfectly  landlocked  and 
protected  from  ocean  storms,  except  at 
its  single  half-mile  entrance;  that  basin 
with  a  bottom  of  sand,  gravel  and  clay- 
no  rock  whatever— and  16,000  acres  of 
Bait  meadow  shores  to  be  bulkheaded  and 
converted  into  highlands,  with  the  mate- 
rials dredged  at  the  lowest  possible  cost, 
and  with  innumerable  islands,  large  and 
small,  to  be  consolidated  and  built  up  in 
the  same  advantageous  manner.  Such 
part  of  the  shores  and  islands  not  required 
for  its  own  purposes  or  control  would 
largely  reimburse  the  city  through  their 


sale  for  the  initial  cost  of  the  develop- 
ment. Through  the  co-operation  of  the 
city,  state  and  Federal  Government,  Ja- 
maica Bay  will  be  made  the  depot  and 
clearing  house  for  all  classes  of  coastwise 
and  foreign  commerce.  When  fully  devel- 
oped, not  only  will  it  accommodate  the 
greatest  passenger  steamers  that  plow 
the  sea,  but  the  tramp  vessels  will  find 
ample  berthing  there  as  well.  The  great 
export  and  import  terminal  of  the  2,000- 
ton  Barge  Canal  will  also  be  there  estab- 
lished, entrance  to  Jamaica  Bay  being 
gained  for  this  class  of  transportation 
by  a  canal  extending  across  the  Island 
from  Flushing  Bay.  Business  will  beget 
business.  Adequate  freight  and  passen- 
ger terminals  will  be  established  by  all 
the  leading  railway  lines.  Elevators  and 
storage  warehouses  will  be  built  in  al- 
most endless  numbers.  Extensive  manu- 
facturing establishments  will  seek  these 
shores  and  islands,  drawn  thither  by  the 
greatest  of  all  magnets — cheap  transpor- 
tation of  raw  materials  and  manufactured 
products  and  superior  accessibility  to  all 
the  markets  of  the  world.  The  multi- 
tude of  activities  that  will  center  in  and 


cluster  about  Jamaica  Bay  will  give  em- 
ployment to  ever  increasing  thousands  of 
men,  who,  together  with  their  families, 
must  be  suitably  housed  within  a  conven- 
ient distance  of  their  daily  employment. 
The  housing  of  these  scores  of  thousands 
cannot  fail  to  build  up  many  hundreds  of 
vacant  acres  in  Brooklyn  and  Queens  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  bay,  which,  under  or- 
dinary conditions,  the  natural  growth  and 
trend  of  population  would  leave  to  the 
last  to  come  under  development.  The 
deepening  of  the  bay  and  the  elimination 
of  its  marshy  shores  and  islands  should 
make  the  entire  section  exceptionally  de- 
sirable for  residential  purposes.  While 
Brooklyn  and  Queens  will  enjoy  these 
great  incidental  benefits  that  will  grow 
out  of  the  creation  of  the  immense  har- 
bor, the  larger  and  more  important  and 
permanent  benefits  will  materially  affect 
the  commerce  and  prosperity  of  the  en- 
tire city  and  the  state  as  well.  In  fact, 
there  will  be  no  maritime  interest 
throughout  the  entire  country  or  world 
that  has  relations  with  this  port  that 
will  not  be  more  or  less  benefited  or  con- 
venienced  by  this  greatest  improvement 
New  York  City  has  ever  bad. 


Chapter  568,  Laws  of  New  York. 


AN  ACT  to  grant  to  the  City  of  New 
York  certain  lands  under  water  in  Ja- 
maica Bay  and  vicinity.  Became  a  law 
May  29,  1909,  with  the  approval  of  the 
Governor.  Passed  by  a  two-thirds  vote. 
Accepted  by  the  city. 
The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly,  do 
enact  as  follows: 

Section  1.  To  the  end  that  The  City 
of  New  York  may  co-operate  with  the 
federal  government  in  the  creation  of  a 
new  harbor  in  and  about  Jamaica  Bay, 
including  the  making  of  channels,  basins, 
slips  and  other  necessary  adjuncts, 
through,  the  excavation  of  the  soil  or 


lands  under  water,  and  otherwise,  in- 
tended for  the  advancement  of  the  com- 
mercial interests  of  the  city,  state  and 
nation,  there  is  hereby  granted  for  the 
purpose  specified  in  this  act,  to  the  City 
of  New  York  such  right,  title  and  inter- 
est as  the  State  of  New  York  may  have 
In  and  to  the  land  under  water  in  Ja- 
maica Bay  and  Rockaway  inlet  and  the 
tributaries  thereto  which  lie  to  the 
northward  of  latitude  forty  degrees  thir- 
ty-three minutes  north,  and  to  the  east- 
ward of  longitude  seventy-three  degrees 
fifty-six  minutes  west,  as  now  inter- 
preted, excluding,'  however,  all  lands 
under  water  included  within  the  bound- 


ary  of  Nassau  County.  This  grant  shall 
become  operative  upon  the  United  States 
Government  making  its  first  appropria- 
tion for  the  creation  of  the  new  harbor 
mentioned  in  this  act,  or  upon  the  City 
of  New  York  appropriating  and  setting 
aside  a  sum  not  less  than  one  million 
dollars  for  the  same  purpose. 

Sec.  2.  The  grant  shall  not  affect  such 
land  as  may  hereafter  be  granted  by  ths 
commissioners  of  the  land  office  under 
any  application  made  prior  to  May  twen- 
ninth,  nineteen  hundred  and  nine,  but  if 
any  such  application  be  denied,  the  land 
covered  thereby  shall  pass  to  the  City 
of  New  York  under  the  conditions  of  this 
act. 


Extracts  From  Majority  Report, 

Jamaica  Bay  Commission 


While  It  is  a  pleasing  duty  to  record 
the  governmenr  engineers'  recognition,  of 
the  necessity  of  the  improvement  of  Ja- 
maica Bay,  it  is  likewise  a  duty  to  dis- 
cuss, briefly  at  any  rate,  the  methods 
to  he  employed  by  them  in  making  and 
maintaining  the  most  important  part  of 
the  -whole  improvement,  namely,  the  en- 
trance through  Rockaway  Inlet;  for  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  city,  with- 
out having  any  part  in  the  preparation 
of  the  plans  for  the  execution  of  this 
part  of  the  work,  is  nevertheless  to  be 
a  Tltally  and  financially  interested  party 
in  the  entire  transaction.  The  city's 
money,  in  the  event  of  the  improvement's 
taking  place,  -would  be  spent  in  the  ac- 
quisition of  lands,  in  the  building  of  bulk- 
heads and  upon  other  improvements  in 
the  interior  of  the  bay.  all  of  which.  It 
is  true,  offer  in  themselves  few  obstacles 
to  complete  success:  but  the  interior  im- 
provements and  the  making  of  the  en- 
trance channel  are  so  interdependent  that 
it  can  justly  be  said  that  whatever  money 
is  spent  b?  the  City  of  New  York  in 
Jamaica  Bay  -will  be  profitable  or  other- 
wise in  precise  ratio  to  the  government's 
success  in  dredging  and  holding  a  chan- 
nel through  the  Inlet. 

It  is  recognized  by  all  engineers  that 
there  is  no  problem  to  the  solution  of 
which  more  uncertainty  attaches  than  to 
the  building  of  harbors  and  in  particular 
of  harbor  entrances. 

What.  then,  should  the  attitude  of  the 
city  be  toward  the  improvement?  Two 
year's  ago  we  said  that  until  the  final  ad- 
justment or"  this  matter  of  the  Entrance, 
the  city  should  spend  no  money  whatso- 
ever in  the  development  of  Jamaica  Bay 
for  industrial  purposes.  Strictly  inter- 
preted, this  would  mean  that  nothing 
should  be  done  by  the  city  until  the 
entrance  channel  had  been  made  and  until 
such  time  had  elapsed  as  would  demon- 
strate either  its  permanency  or  its  main- 
tenance at  reasonable  cost.  Viewing  all 
the  circumstances,  however,  and  having 
in  mind  particularly  the  fact  that  this 
is  possibly  the  first  time  the  Federal  en- 
gineers have  consented  to  the  expenditure 
of  government  moneys  upon  the  improve- 
ment of  a  harbor  where  the  commerce 
is  largely  prospective,  and  also  the  fact 
that  the  recommendations  were  made 
condition  upon  the  city's  bearing  its 
share  of  the  expense  and  assuming  an 
equal  part  of  the  responsibility,  it  would 
seem  better  to  make  a  broader  and  more 
liberal  interpretation  of  the  recommen- 
dation to  which  we  have  made  reference. 
If  the  City  of  New  York  engages  in  this 
work,  in  conjunction  with  the  United 
States  Government,  it  is  but  natural  that 
the  latter  should  expect  to  have  the 
former  expend  its  money  at  the  same 
time  and  not  after  the  entrance  is  made 
and  gives  some  assurance  of  moderate 


|  stability.  This  position  of  the  govern- 1 
I  ment  is  perhaps  the  only  logical  one  that 
|  it  could  take.  It  recognizes  the  project 
as  one  offering  magniflcient  promises  for 
'the  future,  but  it  is  also  cognizant  of  the  j 
I  risk  and  uncertainty  involved.  Realizing 
I  this,  it  is  willing  to  proceed,  but  upon  ! 
the  one  condition  that  the  city  become  a 
party  to  the  enterprise. 
It  is  well  known  to  all  that  a  dredged  i 
1  channel  in  this  location  will  not  be  per-  | 
|  manent.  and  that  it  will  have  to  be  con-  j 
:  stantly  maintained.  It  appears  to  us  fur-  i 
' thermore  that  such  a  channel  does  not 
\  offer  sufficient  security  to  the  manufac-j 
I  turer  to  induce  him  to  locate  upon  the, 
.  shores  of  Jamaia  Bay.  It  will  be  noted  j 
;  that  the  government's  Initial  channel  is 
to  be  600  feet  wide  and  18  feet  deep.  This 
i  is  to  be  maintained  at  a  yearly  esti- 
I  mated  cost  of  something  less,  than  $35,600. 
j  It  cannot,  of  course,  be  stated  for  how 
I  many  years  this  appropriation  for  main- 
tenance will  be  continued;  for  certainly 
no  one  is  in  a  position  to  absolutely  fore-' 
|  cast  the  progressive  development  of  the 
I  bay  front. 

Another  feature  of  the  government's 
plan  to  which  we  would  call  attention  is 
that  which  contemplates  the  widening  of I 
|  the  channel  to  1.500  feet  and  the  deepen- 
|  ing  of  the  same  to  30  feet  before  any  pro- 
I  tective  works,  such  as  jetties  or  groines 
are  built.  Naturally,  this  increase  in  the 
size  of  the  channel  will  not  be  attempted 
until  the  industries  clustered  about  the 
bay  demand  the  increase,  and  yet  we 
fail  to  see  how  such  industries  will  in- 
|  crease  or  will  find  encouragement  until 
some  assurance  of  stability  be  shown,  and 
this  will  come  apparently  only  when  pro- 
tective works  are  built.  We  regret  that 
the  plan  did  not  call  for  the  construction 
of  the  jetty  prior  to  or  immediately  after 
the  dredging  of  the  500-foot  channel. 

We  desire  also  to  express  here 
our  opinion  that  it  would  have 
been  better  had  the  direction  of 
the  channel  been  planned  to  take 
a  more  southerly  direction  than  the  one 
proposed  in  Colonel  Knight's  report.  In 
our  former  report  we  took  the  liberty 
of  expressing  ourselves  fully  upon  this 
matter,  and  gave  our  reasons  for  believ- 
ing that  the  proper  direction  for  the 
construction  of  a  jetty  and  for  the  loca- 
tion of  an  entrance  channel  should  be  in 
a  southerly  direction,  and ,  we  also  ex- 
pressed the  opinion  that  a'  jetty  placed 
in  a  southwesterly  direction  or  practic- 
ally in  the  prolongation  of  Rockaway  | 
Beach  itself  would  be  useless  as  an  agent 
in  creating  a  self-sustaining  channel. 

We  have  no  intention  in  stating  these 
facts  to  appear  too  critical  of  tbe^federal 
engineers'    recommendations,    but  desire 
merely  to  place  your  board  in  possession  I 
of  the  facts  as  we  see  them  in  order  that  I 
you  may  be  in  a  position  to  follow  the 
reasoning  or  arguments  contained  in  this 
report,  and  so  be  able  to  judge  of  the  I 
value  of  the  conclusions  reached  and  the  j 
recommendations   made.     Nor  is   it  our 
desire  or  wish  that  the  city  reject  the 
government's  very  generous  and  liberal 
offer,  for  we    believe  that    the  United 
States  engineers  see  the  possibilities  of 
Jamaica  Bay  as  we  see  them;  that  they  ' 


desire  to  see  this  magnificent  body  of 
water  made  a  useful  adjunct  of  New  York 
Harbor.  We  are  tree  10  say  that  we 
agree  wiib  ihem  that  this  improvement 
should  take  place,  but  that  it  should  be 
done  with  extreme  caution,  and  that 
whatever  initial  expenditures  are  made 
upon  the  part  of  the  city  should  he  only 
such  as  are  sufficient  to  demonstrate  the 
stability  of  the  eoiraDce  at  Rockaway 
Inlet. 

»♦»•♦«« 

THE  PORT  OF  NEW  YHRK. 
It  may  be  well  to  emphasize  two  facts 
of  importance  which  are  apt  to  he  over- 
looked by  many  people  in  discussing 
problems  connected  with  the  develop- 
ment of  the  port  of  New  York.  The  first 
is  that,  when  we  refer  to  the  port  we  do 
not  mean  the  Pity  of  New  York,  hut 
rather  that  entire  district,  the  imports 
and  exports  of  which  are  subject  to  the 
inspection  and  regulation  of  the  New- 
York  Custom  House.  This  customs  dis- 
trict embraces  not  only  the  OHy  of  New 
York,  but  likewise  a!!  the  Hudson  River 
shore  of  New  Jersey,  i he  Bayonnp  pen- 
insula, the  shores  of  the  Kill  von  Kull. 
and  Arthur  Kull.  and  takes  in  such  im- 
portant industrial  places  as  Jers  v  City. 
Bayonne  and  Hobokeu.  The  second  point 
to  be  remembered  is  that  foreign  ton- 
nage as  referred  to  in  the  statistics  of 
any  port  refers  to  vessel  or  net  regis- 
tered tonnage  and  not  to  cargo  tonnage. 
These  facts  are  extremely  important  in 
any  consideration  of  New  York  harbor 
improvements,  iince  the  first  demon- 
strates clearly  that,  no  matter  how  much 
we  may  be  actuated  by  local  pride,  we 
could  not,  it  we  would,  deal  with  this 
industrial  district  without  regarding  as 
one  the  various  communities  mentioned, 
while  the  second  shows  just  as  clearly 
that  in  providing  a  sufficient  amount  of 
wharfage  to  care  for  commerce,  it  is 
necessary  to  distinguish  between  net  reg- 
istered tonnage  and  cargo  or  freight  ton- 
nage. For  the  purpose  of  making  com- 
parisons between  New  York  and  other 
ports,  there  is.  of  course,  no  harm  in 
using  net  registered  tonnage,  since  it  is 
in  this  form  that  all  the  figures  of  gov- 
ernment statistics  are  given. 

If  the  reason  given  for  New  York  City's 
location  is  a  rood  one,  it  follows  that  the 
minor  cities,  towns  and  villages,  which 
are  included  within  its  industrial  district, 
all  play  some  part  in  maintaining  the 
commercial  supremacy  of  the  port.  New 
York  is  the  central  market  for  the  pro- 
ducts of  these  communities.  With  this  in 
mind  ir  is  in  eresting  to  note,  in  census 
bulletin  No.  101,  that  the  total  popula- 
tion of  the  New  York  industrial  district 
amounted  in  1905  to  5.294.682.  and  the 
value  of  its  total  product  to  $2,144,- 
448.000. 

While  the  figures  given  are,  as  we  have 
said,  interesting,  they  would  not  aid  us 
in  the  preparation  of  plans  for  harbor 
improvement,  or  any  other  kind  of  pub- 
lic improvement,  unless  accompanied  by- 
figures  indicating  the  rate  of  growth. 
Below  tollow  tables  1.  2,  3  and  4,  which 
are  compiled  from  the  United  States 
Census    Reports,  from  the  State  Census 


IMPROVEMENT. 


^  WHICH  ACCOMPANIED  C/SPEPOPTWEM/TTEO 

fflNUARYXX  1909  /N  COMPLIANCE  WITH 
J21VE&/1ND  Hm&OQ  /9CT  Of  MARCH '£J90? 


26 


JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


*nd  from  the  United  States  Statistical 
Ab«tract.  and  which  show  the  growth  in 
population,  in  manufacture,  and  in  for- 
eign tonnage: 


Showing  Growth  of  Population 
York  City  .Since  1S00. 


TABLE  4. 
Showing   Tonnage   of  Vessels  Bntered 
and  Cleared  at  New  York,  1SS5-190S. 


isto 

1S20 
1830 
1840 
1850 
1S60 
1870 
1SS0 
1S90 
1900 
UW5 
1*10 


Annual 

Popu- 

rate of 

lation. 

of  inc. 

79.216 

119,734 

40,518 

s!3 

152.056 

32,322 

242.278 

90,222 

6.93 

391.114 

14S.S36 

8.14 

696,115 

305.001 

7. SO 

1,174.779 

478.664 

1,478.103 

S03.324 

2.58 

1.911,698 

433,595 

2.93 

2.507.414 

595.716 

3.12 

3.437,202 

929.788 

3.71 

4.013.7S1 

576.579 

3.35 

4,600.000 

(estimated) 

Year  end 
June  30. 


Comparative    .Statement — Statistics 
Manufactures. 


City. 

United  States  ..$14.! 
New  York    l.i 

Manhattan  &. 
Bronx   

Brooklyn   

Queens   

Richmond   

Boston.  Mass.... 
Chicago,  111.  ... 
St.  Louis.  Mo- 
New  Orleans,  La. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Baltimore,  Md.. 
Norfolk,  Va.  .. 
SanFran'co,  Cal. 
Charleston,  S.C. 
Savannah.    Ga. .. 

Mobile.  Ala  

Galveston,  Tex.. 

•Decrease. 


.Value  of  products. 


1.043.251.9:3 
373,462.980 
92.941.158 
16.866.995 
184.351,163 
955.036.277 
207.307,038 
81604,008. 
591.2S8.07S 
162*648,580 
5,900,129 
137.7SS.233 
6.007.094 
6.340,004 
4.942.331 


1900.  inc. 

$11,411,121,122  29.7 

1,172,870,261  30.2 

810,807,976  28.7 

313.617.4S9  19.1 

85.427,661  162.3 

13,017.236  29.6 

162,764.523  13.3 

797,879.141  19.7 

193.732.7S8  3S.0 

57.446.116  47.3 

519,981,812  13.7 

135,107,626  12.2 

4.691.779  25.8 

107,023,567  2S.7 

5,713.315  6.1 

3.750,000  69.1 

3.4S;,,669  41.S 

3.673,323  *45.7 


Total  Increase 
Per  cent.  Incr 
Yearly  rata  ol 


Entered.  Cleared.  Total. 
.  5.059,723  5,440.724  11.100,457 
6.558.938  6.388.333  10,947.273 
6.087,110  6.779,691  11.866,801 
6.6S3.371  6,547.442  11,230,813 
5,596,821  6,454,415  11,051.236 
6,258.222  6.025,518  12.2S3.740 
6.452,877  6.04S.7S4  12.501.661 
7.304,015  7.140.393  14,444. 40S 
7.015,030  6,639.433  13,634,403 
7,121.527  6,964,927  14,0S6.4.,4 
66SS.595  6.499.490  13.1SS.0S5 
6,911.782  6.552,614  13,464.396 
7,267,480  6.943.835  14.211,315 
7,771,412  7.676,630  15,348,042 
7,707,477  7,496,279  15,203.756 
8,176,761  7.S43.529  16.020,290 
8.679,273  8,118,427  16.797.700 
8,992,767  S. 415.291  17.39S.05S 
9.053.096  8.847,072  17,900,103 
9,255.524  8.700.590  17.936.114 
9.630.S53  9.311.527  1S.942.3SO 
10.470,993  9,913,960  20.390.953 
11,383,345  10.472,601  21.S53.946 
12,134,780  11,939.904  24.09J.744 
In  tonnage,  1SS3-190S....1: 

,S6  In  23  years  

Inorease.  23  years  


Per  cent, 
increase 
or  dec. 


—1.38 
+8.40 

—1.60 
+11.15 
+  1.77 
+15.54 
—6.47 
+3.16 
—6.38 
'  +2.10 


+5.37 
+4.85 
+3.67 
+  2.89 
+0.20 
+5.61 
+7.64 
+7.19 
+10.22 
994,237 
117.1 


the  total  population  In  New  York  City 

UoO  will  reach  ten  millions 


a  de- 


inions 
•         •  • 

In  our  former  report  we  ga 
tailed  description  of  Jamaica  Bay  and 
pointed  out  its  advantages  as  a  harbor 

detnM  LD?L  repeat  such  Ascription  in 
detail  in  this  report,  but  will  merely 
point  out  such  salient  features  as  seem 
to  require  peculiar  emphasis  in  view  of 

m,!„M6Ct?DmendaUon9  that  subse- 
quently be  made.    The  bay,  first  of  all 

h«,B?PJy  protected  fr°ni  storms,  being 

Be^hed  >,0n.  the  SOUth  b*  R°ckaway 
Beach,  which  acts  as  a  natural  break- 
water;  it  has  „  w  acfes    ™  break 

miles)  of  water  surface,  and  its  twenty! 
?»naw,les.  °f  main-^nd  waterfront  are 
capable  of  providing  room  not  only  for 
a  very  large  number  of  piers,  but  piers 

to  m»i-P/aCTiCal  1J.DBth  "  m*y  be  Welded 
to  make.  Immediately  adjacent  to  Ja- 
maica Bay  are  8.500  acres  of  salt  marsh 
which,  when  reclaimed,  will  offer  cheap 
for  factories,  but  for  the 


sites  not  onl) 


TABLE  3. 
Manufactures   and  Population  of  Xew 
York  by  Boroughs. 


2  si 


Municipality. 


Industrial  dls- 


25,257 

J2.144.4SS.093 

5.294.682 

Total   1300 

23,262 

1.614.207.347 

4,539,390 

Per  cent,  of  In- 

crease   

8.6 

32.8 

16.6 

New  York  City.1905 

20.S39 

1,526.523,006 

4.013.7S1 

1900 

Per  cent,  of  in- 

19.243 

1,172.870,261 

3.427.202 

crease   

S3 

30.2 

16.8 

Brooklyn  Boi-h.igoo 

4.182 

373.462.930 

1.358.636 

1900 

Per  cent,  of  in- 

4,301 

313,017,489 

1.1 66,552 

crease   

•2.8 

19.1 

16.5 

Manhattan  and 

Bronx  Bor  hs.1905 

16,975 

1.043,251.923 

2.3S4.010 

1900 

14,362 

810.807.975 

2,050,600 

Per  cent,  of  in- 

crease   

11.2 

28.7 

16.3 

Queens  l  - 

513 

92.941, 16S 

19S.240 

1900 

Per  cent,  of  In- 

395 

35,427.561 

152,999 

crease   

29  9 

162.3 

29.6 

Richmond  B'h.l9o5 

169 

16.866.995 

72.845 

1900 

185 

13.017.236 

67,021 

Per  cent,  of  In- 

crease   

•8.6 

SM 

8.7 

The  Increase  in  population  from  1900 
to  1905  iu  the  industrial  district  in  New 
York  City  as  a  whole,  in  Manhattan  and 
the  Bronx,  and  in  Brooklyn,  seemed  to  be 
about  3  1-3  per  cent.;  Queens  Borough 
shows  close  to  6  per  cent.,  while  in  Rich- 
mond the  gain  was  less  than  2  per  cent. 
In  manufacture  (value  of  products)  the 
increase  for  the  entire  industrial  dis- 
trict, and  for  Xew  York  City,  as  a  whole, 
are  quite  the  same,  the  former  being  at 
the  rate  of  6*a  per  cent,  and  the  latter 
6  per  cent.  Brooklyn  has  not  kept  pace 
with  Manhattan,  the  increase  amounting 
to  3.8  per  cent,  or  about  parallel  with  its 
growth  in  -population.  Queens  Borough 
shows  a  substantial  increase,  being  at  the 
great  rate  of  22\2  per  cent.  The  value  of 
its  present  production  is  remarkable, 
amounting  to  $92,941,158,  or  to  about  25 
per  cent,  of  Brooklyn's  tqtal,  although  its 
population  amounts  to  but  14^  per  cent. 
If  we  remember  that  most  of  the  indus- 
trial manufacturing  establishments  in  the 
Borough  of  Queens  are  located  along  the 
shores  of  Newtown  Creek  or  in  Long 
Island  City,  the  population  of  which  in 
1905  was  only  55,486.  a  clearer  idea  of  its 
commercial  enterprise  can  be  s 
it  is  very  probable  that  whil 
of  the  value  of  the  manufactured  pro 
ducts  of  this  part  of  Queens  Borough 
aloni 
same 


erection  of  homes  for  operatives,  while 

™t,Ut.e,r',°r  °f  the  ba>'  ttre  4--00  a"es  of 
marsh  which  can  either  be  applied  to  the 
same  purposes  or  can  be  converted  into 
a  great  municipal  park.  Railroad  con- 
nection can  be  secured  throughout  the 
entire  district  through  the  agency  of  he 
New  York  Connecting  Railroad,  which  is 
the  line  proposed  to  Join  the  Pennsyl- 
vania and  the  New  York.  New  Haven  and 
"a"^ord  «>-stems.  On  the  borders  of 
n  oa^ay  at  the  Present  time  live 
over  2o0,000  people,  and  throughout  the 

rsiin-s**! there  is  n°  secti°n  *n°  *  £° 

advanced  in  population  at  so  great  a 
IfM  uaS  KhRt  Which  traces-  the  ward* 
which  abut  against  the  shores  of  this 

rr\°t  hax-R  estimated  the  population  of 

un    t  IV  Yo,rk  10  reach  ^.ooo.ooo  in 

i»5U.  That  a  large  proportion  of  the 
estimated  increase  will  be  in  the  south* 
east  corner  of  Brooklyn  and  in  the  south- 
erly part  of  Queens  may  be  seen  from  an 
inspection  of  Table  5,  here  presented  in 
which  the  density  of  the  various  wards 
throughout  Brooklyn  and  Queens  is  indi- 
cated. As  a  means  of  comparison  we 
and  7  .c,onn?ction  w*th  it  Tables  6 
and  7.  which  show  the  density  of  the 
population  of  Manhattan  and  the  Bron" 


TABLE  H, 
ShoTvinB     Population.     Acrraeo  and 
Density  „f  the  Various  Wards  of  the 
BorouRh  of  Brooklyn  for  1010. 

Estimated  Acre-  Den- 
population,     age.  slty. 


Word. 


!econd  . 
ured.  for  I  Third  .. 
the  ratio  |  Fourth 
manufactured    pro- 1  Fifth  •• 
Sixth  .. 

to  that  of  Brooklyn  remains  the|Seven'h 
or  25  per  cent.;  its  population  to  Eighth  . 


that  of  Brooklyn  is  but  4  per  cent.  The 
reason  for  all  of  this  we  shall  not  stopjTenu 
to  explain  here,  but  will  do    so    when  Elevo 


th  ... 


Tv 


lfth 


treating  of  Jamaica  Bay  as  a  manufactur- 
ing center.    We  have  already  called  at- 1  Thirteenth 

tention  to  the  great  growth  in  foreign  [  Fourteenth    35.218 

tonnage  and  need  not  refer  to  it  again. 

except  to  say  that  the  gain  for  the  years 

1905  to  190S  amounted  to  27.2  per  cent.,  or 

at  the  rate  of  9  per  cent,  per  year,  a  rate 

exceeded  but  twice  in  this  port  in  twen- 
ty-five years,  the  last  time  being  sixteen 

years  ago.  and  the  present  rate  of  in- 
crease being  the  more  remarkable  be- 
|  cause  of  the  large  figures  with  which  we 

are  now  dealing.    Euough  then  has  been 

said,  we  believe,  to  demonstrate  the  fact 

that  the  Port  of  New  York  continues  to 

grow  at  a  very  rapid  rate.   It  I9  perhaps 

safe  to  predict  that  the  foreign  tonnage 

of  the  port  will  in  1950  amount  to  over 

50.000.000,  the  value  of  the  products 
of  manufacture  in    Greater    New  York 

alone  to  $3,500,000,000,  and  of  the  indus- 


Eighteenth   

Nineteenth   

Twentieth   

Twenty-first  .... 
Twenty-second  . 
Twenty-third  ... 
Twenty-fourth  .. 
Twenty-fifth  .... 
Twenty-sixth  .. 
Twenty-seventh 
Twenty-eighth  .. 
Twenty-ninth  ... 

Thirtieth   

Thirty-first   

Thirty-second  ... 


trial  district  to  $5,000,000,000  and  finally  I  Total 


23.647 

238. 

110 

9,613 

97.7 

21.112 

161  4 

131 

13.346 

111.3 

120 

20.797 

119.4 

175 

302.  > 

183 

50.S24 

458  5 

111 

77,941 

1.S43.2 

623  6 

84 

46.95S 

318.7 

147 

27.907 

252.6 

111 

32. 3S8 

663.1 

4* 

23.119 

230.3 

100 

35.218 

282  « 

32t 

35.933 

244.8 

146 

66.088 

244.8 

270 

76.639 

S23.3 

93 

31.031 

873.0 

33 

46.208 

413.S 

112 

29.276 

461.5 

63 

72.052 

483.2 

149 

84.015 

1.361.6 

61 

74,728 

736.0 

102 

60.550 

1.19S.5 

50 

63,078 

567.8 

112 

134.115 

5.690.0 

24 

61.370 

400.7 

128 

97,820 

884.4 

111 

6S.399 

3.800.0 

13 

65.911 

6.404.1 

10 

34,241 

6.312.3 

C 

21,237 

8.300.0 

2 

,595,444 

43,898.1 

'JAMAICA   BAY,  IMPROVEMENT. 


27. 


Showing  Population,  Aereagr*  »nd 
Density  of  the  Various  Wards  of  the 
Borough  of  Queena  for  1010. 

Estimated    Acre-  Den- 
Ward,                       population,    age.  sity. 
Km                            63.781     i.m  13 

Sseocd                                   83.322      14. TOO  6 

Third                                      33.648      22,000  1 

Fourth                                   59,804      36.0OO  1 

Fifth                                      13.697        4.933  2 

Total    239,052  82.SS3 

TAB  LB  6. 
Showing  Density  per  Acre  by  Assem- 
bly Districts. 


MANHATTAN. 

Population, 


People 
Acre-  per 


Ass.  Dist. 

First   

Second   

Third   

Fourth   

Fifth   

Sixth   

Seventh   

Eighth   

Ninth  „  

Tenth   

Eleventh   

Twelfth   

Thirteenth   

Fourteenth   

Fifteenth   

Sixteenth   

Seventeenth   

Eighteenth   

Nineteenth   .'  

Twentieth   

Twenty-first   

Twenty-second   

Twenty- third   

Twenty-fourth   

Twenty-fifth   

Twenty-sixth   

Twenty-seventh   

Twenty-eighth   

Twenty-ninth   

Thirtieth   

Thirty-first   

Thirty-second   

Thirty-third   

Thirty-fourth,  part  of. 

Total   


Showing  Density  per  Acre  by  Assein- 


1905. 

age. 

acre. 

24,030 

520 

46 

8S.44S 

343 

170 

.  59.041 

230 

256 

90.941 

166 

543 

38.ei3 

277 

139 

42.246 

297 

142 

71,241 

93 

47,057 

264 

178 

74.330 

114 

651 

23,990 

194 

173 

74,449 

160 

465 

40.S79 

1SS 

218 

65.392 

161 

tot 

40.944 

124 

330 

94.210 

165 

570 

44.89S 

LS8 

43.739 

236 

206 

77,903 

600 

130 

44.392 

1S6 

233 

113.809 

1.06S 

106 

61.762 

218 

107, 16S 

3.306 

32 

60.161 

343 

173 

39.721 

460 

86 

'60.10S 

224 

26S 

34.952 

434 

81 

51.842 

166 

311 

62,431 

1.153 

45 

61,696 

220 

2S0 

103.691 

470 

221 

105,156 

573 

184 

70.696 

385 

in 

43.743 

278 

14.038 

bly  Districts. 

THE  BRONX. 

Assembly  Population 
districts.  1905. 
Thirty-fourth  (part  of)  63.8S8 

Thirty-fifth    171,701 

Annex    34.003 


People 
per 

Acreage,  acre. 


Total 


TABLE  7. 

Average  Densities  in  tbe  Boroughs  of 
Greater  New  York  In  1003. 

People 
per 

Borough.  Population.  Acreage,  acre. 

Manhattan   2,102.643  14,038  150 

Bronx    271.592  26,017  10 

Brooklyn   1,358.656  43.S9S  31 

Queens    198,240         82,883  8 

Richmond    72,845  36.600  2 

The  foregoing  tables  are  highly  instruc- 
tive; they  show  in  the  first  place  the 
fallacy  ot  the  statement  made  frequently 
in  many  quarters  that  Manhattan  will 
reach  its  maximum  population  or  density 
in  1910.  The  skyscraper  has  not  only  dem- 
onstrated its  utility  as  a  means  of  con- 
serving the  limited  area  of  the  Island 
for  business  and  factory  purposes,  but  it 
has  likewise  demonstrated  the  fact  that 
it  is  adapted  to  apartment  houses  and  to 
the  housing  of  a  very  large  number  of 
people  on  a  small  plot  of  ground.  Had  we 
not  noted  this  fact,  in  connection  with 
Manhattan's  population,  we  would  have 
been  led  to  this  conclusion  by  observing 
the  great  increase  in  the  value  of  Man- 


hattan's manufacturing  output  referred 
to  above,  since,  as  a  general  rule,  the  in- 
crease in  manufactures  runs  quite  par- 
allel to  the  increase  in  population.  An- 
other lesson  to  be  learned  from  Tables 
5  and  6  13  this,  that  the  Borough  of 
The  Bronx  still  seems  to  draw  many 
people  and  can  still  take  care  of  three 
and  one-half  millions  of  people  before 
Its  average  density  will  equal  the 
average  density  of  Manhattan.  In  any 
estimate  of  Brooklyn  and  Queens  future 
population  to  be  used  as  a  basis  of  argu- 
ment for  proposed  public  improvements, 
sight  must  not  be  lost  of  the  fact  that 
in  the  distribution  of  the  greater  city's 
future  population,  The  Bronx  will  receive 
its  full  quota. 

The  recent  growth  of  manufacturing  in 
Queens  Borough  (principally  in  Long  Is- 
land City),  amounting,  as  we  have  already 
pointed  out,  to  a  gain  of  162  per  cent,  in 
five  years  (1900-1905),  is  a  further  con- 
firmation of  the  fact.  The  opening  of  the 
Queensboro  Bridge  alone  accounted  for 
the  purchase  of  a  dozen  large  factory- 
sites  in  Long  Island  City  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year  1909.  It  has,  more- 
over, been  pointed  out  to  us,  and  we  have 
reason  to  believe,  that  one  of  the  strong 
factors  contributing  to  the  success  of  the 
Bush  factory  buildings  in  South  Brooklyn 
was  the  conversion  of  the  Thirty-ninth 
Street  Ferry  into  a  municipal  enterprise, 
thereby  securing  a  more  efficient  opera- 
tion of  that  means  of  transportation. 

The  foregoing  is  sufficient,  we  think,  to 
demonstrate  the  fact  that  if  any  rule 
at  all  can  be  laid  down  for  guidance  in 
the  preparation  of  plans  for  the  improve- 
ment of  lands  near  Jamaica  Bav  for  the 
purposes  of  manufacture,  it  must  be  one 
founded  on  the  principle  that  industrial 
establishments  will  keep  pace  with  popu- 
lation and  will,  in  all  probability,  follow 
instead  of  preceding  growth  in  this  di- 
rection. 

*        s        •        •        s        •  • 

HARBOR  DESIGN. 

By  a  close  examination  of  existing 
harbors,  it  will  be  observed  that  the  area 
of  water  surface,  the  area  of  land  em- 
ployed for  handling  and  storing  freight, 
the  length  of  wharfage  in  use  and  the  ton- 
nage of  the  port  all  bear  a  comparatively 
fixed  relation  to  one  another.  When  the 
tonnage  is  noticeably  above  the  average 
per  unit  of  any  one  of  the  other  factors, 
it  will  be  found  that  the  harbor  is  usually 
in  a  congested  condition.  Investigation 
of  such  matters  has  not  to  any  great  ex- 
tent been  taken  up  in  this  country,  but 
several  foreign  engineers,  notably  the 
chief  engineer  of  the  port  of  Marseilles, 
M.  Guerard,  and  J.  Krauss  of  Delft,  Hol- 
land, have  carefully  studied  these  mat- 
ters. 

We  have  carefully  examined  the  data 
prepared  by  Mr.  Krauss  and  have  con- 
firmed some  features  of  it  by  actual  in- 
vestigation of  certain  portions  of  New 
York  City's  waterfront.  This  data  re- 
duced to  tons  of  two  thousand  pounds  and 
English  units  of  measurement  are  large- 
ly summed  up  in  the  table  which  follows 
and  which,  as  can  readily  be  seen,  offers 
a  quick  and  quite  reliable  rule  of  deter- 
mining the  necessary  capacity  of  each 
particular  pare  of  a  port. 

1  Tonnage  per  acre. — 1 


VTid  per 


Land  and  Land 


water. 
...  7.300 
...23.700 
...10.70i) 
...  9.300 
...  9.300 


Port. 
Amsterdam 
Antwerp  .. 
Hamburg  . 
Dunkirk  ... 

Havre   

Barcelona   4.S50 

Genoa   11.750 

Marseilles  ....  S.70O 
Buenos  Ayres..  3.S00 
Rouen   8.500 

Ave.  10  cities..  9,900 

1  Equate  69  meters. 


39.200 
19,800 
31.200 
34.200 
15.200 
15.700 


Water 
surface. 
13.400 
39.600 
15.000 
17.400 
14.G0O 
6,500 
9.700 
17.000 
9.300 
11.200 


It  will  be  seen  that  the  following  are 
fair  average  values: 
Tonnage    per    acre    of    land  and 

water  combined   10,000 

Tonnage  per  acre  of  land  alone, 

about    25,000 

Tonnage  per  acre  of  water  alone, 

about   ••   15,000 

Width  of  land  strip  per  lineal  foot 

of  wharf    250  ft. 

In  arriving  at  these  averages  the  fig- 
ures for  the  port  of  Antwerp  were  not 
used,  inasmuch  as  it  was  reported  that 
at  the  time  the  figures  were  taken  the 
port  was  quite  congested.  Rotterdam  and 
Hamburg  were  reported  to  be  in  satis- 
factory condition  and  therefore  the  aver- 
ages should  conform  closely  to  the  unit 
tonnage  and  distances  as  found  for  these 
ports.  Compared  with  the  average  fig- 
ures fixed  upon  by  Mr.  Krauss,  the  ton- 
nages given  above  are  light,  but  this  re- 
sult, as  can  readily  be  seen  in  more 
liberal  estimates  of  space,  or  in  other 
words,  acts  in  the  direction  of  providing 
a  greater  water  surface  and  a  greater 
land  area  than  are  actually  required  by 
the  estimated  amount  of  freight  to  be 
handled. 

Another  feature  of  a  port  is  no  less 
important  than  those  which  have  pre- 
ceded and  that  is  the  length  of  the  quay 
wall  or  the  wharfage  required  to  ade- 
quately provide  for  the  expected  number 
of  vessels  or  for  the  estimated  tonnage. 
We  have  in  one  way  already  determined 
this  for,  in  the  data  given  above  with 
reference  to  land  width  per  foot  of  wall, 
it  will  be  noted  that  this  width,  being 
based  upon  the  same  data  as  the  land 
area  in  use,  does  in  reality  depend  for  its 
value  upon  the  tonnage.  It  is  simpler, 
for  purposes  of  application,  however,  to 
have  a  rule  expressed  in  tons  per  run- 
ning foot.  Investigations  along  *the?e 
lines  taking  tonnage  handled  and  divid- 
ing this  by  the  actual  quay  wall  in  use 
in  other  ports  give  quite  uniform  results. 
Special  inquiries  made  among  property 
owners  and  shippers  along  the  shores  of 
Newtown  Creek,  Gowanus  Canal,  Erie 
Basin  and  other  portions  of  New  York 
Harbor  give  confirmation  of  the  busi- 
ness that  can  be  done  in  waterways  with- 
out undue  congestion.  The  following 
table  gives  the  results  of  these  investi- 
gations, some  of  them  personally  col- 
lected and  the  data  from  which  the  others 
were  deduced  being  reliable.  Leaving  out 
of  consideration  the  tonnage  unit  found 
for  Antwerp,  for  the  reason  above 
given,  namely,  the  fact  that  with  thi9  load 
the  harbor  was  reported  congested,  it 
will  be  found  that  a  very  fair  average 
value  is  155  tons.  The  same  authority 
quoted  above  (J.  Krauss)  after  a  very 
exhaustive  inquiry,  fixes  upon  500  ton3 
(1,000  kilos)  per  line  meter  of  quay  wall: 
this  is  equal  to  168  tons  (of  2,000  pounds) 
per  linear  foot.  Mr.  Krauss  calls  this  a 
"rational  and  prudent  average  notwith- 
standing it  might  be  increased  if  it  were 
made  to  refer  to  some  articles,  coal,  for 
instance." 

TABLE  11. 

Port  T7r.lt 
or  Docks.  Tonnage. 
Antwerp    374 


28.940  17.r0 
Surface  of  land 


M   Gerard  states  that  

Length  Of  qua;' 
I  to  75  meters.  


Glasgow  . 
Liverpool 
Hamburg 
Rotterdam 
Havre  ... 
Dunkirk  . 


176 


Barcelona    132 

Marseille    194 

Genoa   J82 

Gowanus  Canal.  Brooklyn   230 

Newtown  Creek.  Brooklyn   170 

-V.  Y.  Trans.  Atlantic  Piers   210 

Certain  Brooklyn  Piers   60 

Capacity  of  same   150 

Erie  Basin   70 

13—  2.326 


Average  of  all  except  Antwerp   lo» 

One  other  consideration  and  we  have 
done  with  the  general  subject  of  harbor 


28 


JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


design.  This  has  to  Jo  with  tho  relation 
existing  between  population  and  foreign 
tonnage  of  ports.  The  accompanying 
table  showing  the  per  capita  foreign  ton- 
nage of  the  principal  cities  in  the  United 
States  needs  no  explanation  or  remarks 
upon  our  part. 


TABLE  12. 


Per  Capita  Tonnage  of  Varloua  Ports 
in  1000. 


Tons 

Tonnage 

per 

City. 

Population. 

(Foreign). 

Capita. 

New  York  

.  3,437,202 

16.020,290 

4.7 

Philadelphia  .. 

.  1,293.697 

3.736,615 

2.9 

.  6G0.892 

3.145,187 

6.6 

.  603,937 

3.452,654 

1.8 

San  Francisco. 

.  342,732 

2.691.36G 

7.9 

New  Orleans.. 

.  2S7.104 

3.395.442 

11.8 

65.307 

147.652 

2.7 

54.244 

611.123 

11.3 

60.145 

717,001 

14.3 

46.634 

592.887 

12.6 

33.469 

1,054,471 

27.3 

37.789 

1.541.500 

40.8 

6.713,222 

37,106,188 

6.6 

We  have  now  considered  practically  all 
the  elements  entering  into  the  problem 
and  have  reduced  them  to  a  question  of 
tonnage  so  that  we  may  safely  as- 
sume that  when  the  tonnage  of  a  port  or 
harbor  is  given,  the  dimensions  of  the 
various  features  may  be  approximated 
very  closely. 

Reviewing  what  has  preceded  we  may 
set  down  the  following  average  values 
for  the  various  factors  entering  into  the 
problem: 

1st— Tonnage  (of  2,000  lbs.) 
per  acre  of  land  and 
water  combined    10,000 

«d— Tonnage  (of  2,000  lbs.) 
per  acre  of  water  sur- 
face   25,000 

8d— Tonnage  (of  2,000  lbs.) 
per  aore  of  land  sur- 
face   15,000 

4th— Tonnage  (of  2,000  lbs.) 
per  linear  foot  of 
wharf    155  to  16S 

6th — Tonnage  (foreign  and  net 

registered)    per    capita  5.5 

6th— Width  of  land  adjacent 
waterfront  per  linear 
foot  of  wharf    250 

In  order  that  liberal  allowances  be 
made  In  consequence  of  fortunate  condi- 
tions, we  shall,  in  making  application  of 
these  values  in  the  determination  of  the 
extent  of  the  initial  improvements  use 
for  items  4  and  5,  respectively,  the  fig- 
ures 150  and  6,  since  both  of  these  wilt 
necessitate  the  provision  of  more  wharf- 
age than  would  be  required  if  we  ad- 
hered strictly  to  results  obtained  in  our 
investigations.  It  must  not  be  forgotten, 
however,  that  the  4th  item  refers  to 
cargo  or  freight  tonnage  while  the  5th 
Item  refers  to  net  registered  tonnage. 
Respecting  item  6th,  we  may  remark  that 
It  can,  in  a  measure,  be  disregarded,  since 
the  territory  adjacent  to  the  waterways 
In  Jamaica  Bay  is  so  ample  and  com- 
paratively cheap  as  not  to  necessitate  re- 
strictions in  this  direction. 

EXTENT  OP  IMPROVEMENT. 

We-  nave  now  tp  consider  what  shall 
Mei  the  extent  of  the  improvement  of  Ja- 
maica Bay;  how  much  can  be  economical- 
ly spent,  and.  what  the  probable  returns 
to  the  city  will  be.  Noting  this  we  wish 
first  to  repeat  here  the  government's 
proposal; 

iftrst—  Tq  dredge  a  channel 
18  feet  deep  and  500 

'  feet  wide  through  the 
.entrance  to  the  begin- 

: .  !  ning  of  the  main  chan- 
l  nel  at  the  southeast 
corner  of  Barren  Isl- 
and   $250,500.00 

Second — Increase  the  dimen- 
sions of   this  channel 


to  30  ieet  by  1,500  feet, 

estimated  cost    1,010,500.00 

Third— Construct  east  jetty, 
if  it  proves  to  be  nec- 
essary, estimated  cost  724,500.00 

Fourth— Construct  west  jet- 
ty, if  it  should  become 
necessary,  estimated 

cost   .  689,500.00 

Fifth— Contingencies    129,550.00 

Total    $2,710,050.00 

Main  channel.  69,000,000  cu- 
bic yards  at  8  cents.  4,720,000.00 

Total    $7,430,050.00 

The  Chief  of  Engineers,  after  concurr- 
ing in  the  opinion  of  the  District  Offi- 
cer and  the  Board  of  Engineers  for  Riv- 
ers and  Harbors  that  Jamaica  Bay  is 
worthy  of  improvement  in  accordance 
with  some  progressive  plan  for  joint 
prosecution  by  the  United  States  and 
the  local  authorities,  expresses  the  opin- 
ion that  "The  United  States  should  not 
at  this  time  be  committed  further  than 
to  a  project  for  securing  a  depth  of 
eighteen  feet,  as  provided  in  the  first 
step  of  thi  progressive  movement  recom- 
mended in  the  reports  herewith.  Any  fur- 
ther Improvement  should  be  clearly  shown 
to  be  in  the  interest  of  commerce." 

The  estimate  of  cost  to  the  United 
States  until  such  time  as  the  needs  of 
commerce  demand  the  ultimate  improve- 
ment amounts  therefore  to  this: 

(a)  Dredging  18-foot  en- 
trance channel    $250,000.00 

(b)  500-foot  main  channel, 

18  feet  deep,  16.000,000 
cubic  yards  (estimated 
by  the  Jamaica  Bay 
Improvement  Commis- 
sion), at  8  cents   1,280,000.00 

(c)  Contingencies,  5  per  cent  76,500.00 

Total    $1,606,000.00 

Assuming  that  this  estimate  of  cost 
proves  correct,  the  capital  investment 
necessary  to  produce  this  at  4  per  cent, 
amounts  to  $1,390,000.  The  total  invest- 
ment of  the  government  amounts,  then, 
to  $2,996,000,  or,  say,  $3,000,000.  It  is  our 
opinion  that  the  total  expenditure  upon 
the  part  of  the  city  should  not  greatly 
exceed  an  amount  approximating  this  un- 
til such  time  as  the  demands  of  com- 
merce require  greater  facilities.  The 
actual  initial  expenditure  should,  how- 
ever, be  sufficient  to  make  the  improve- 
ment complete  in  every  particular  over  a 
territory  large  enough  to  take  care  of  the 
expected  tonnage  of  the  district  for  the 
next  ten  years. 

Now,  in  order  that  the  present  popula' 
tion  may  not  be  unduly  taxed,  it  is  essen- 
tial in  fixing  the  extent  and  character, 
not  only  of  the  more  detailed  plan  of  im- 
provement, but  likewise  of  the  general 
plan,  to  determine  the  date  for  which  such 
improvement  should  be  planned  and  the 
actual  requirements  in  the  way  of  wharf- 
age at  the  time  specified.  If  the  general 
plan  provides  waterfront  facilities  to 
take  care  of  the  estimated  needs  up  to 
1950,  and  if  the  more  detailed  plan  pro- 
vides the  same  up  to  1920,  or  for  a  period 
of  ten  years  after  the  beginning  of  the 
construction,  they  will,  we  think,  be 
amply  sufficient.  That  the  plans  present- 
ed herewith  make  such  provision  can  be 
readily  demonstrated. 

We  have  estimated  that  the  population 
of  the  entire  Borough  of  Brooklyn  will  in 
1950  be  4,500,000,  or,  including  the  Fourth 
Ward,  Queens,  5,220,000.  This  is  a  liberal 
estimate,  since  in  making  it  we  have  as- 
sumed that  the  present  rate  of  increase 
will  be  maintained,  and  this,  we  are 
aware,  is  somewhat  excessive  since  rates 
of  this  nature  are  known  to  slightly  de- 
crease with  growth  in  numbers.  The  area 
of  Brooklyn  is  about  43,900  acres,  so  that 
the  density  or  number  of  people  per  acre 
will  in  the  year  cited  average  about  102. 
With  Brooklyn's  Immense  waterfront, 
much  of  It  already  highly  developed, 
particularly  In  the  territory  near  the 
larger  pan  of  the  consumers  in  all  bor- 


oughs, and  hence,  as  we  have  seen,  likely 
to  hold  a  heavy  percentage  of  the  entire 
trade,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the 
Jamaica  Bay  waterfront  will  do  more  than 
secure  that  portion  of  the  port's  busi- 
ness which  is  proportional  to  the  popula- 
tion residing  in  a  zone  entirely  tributary 
to  the  bay  itself.  To  determine  what  this 
proportion  amounts  to  it  is  necessary  to 
make  an  estimate  of  what  this  tributary 
area  consists.  We  have  assumed,  there- 
fore, for  the  purpose  of  what  follows, 
that  all  of  the  Twenty-sixth  and  Thirty- 
second  wards  in  Brooklyn,  one-half  the 
Twenty-ninth  Ward  in  the  same  borough 
and  two-thirds  of  the  Fourth  Ward  (Ja- 
maica) in  Queens  Borough,  are  in  this 
tributary  zone.  We  have  not  included 
the  Fifth  Ward,  Queens,  since  the  pres- 
ent plan  contemplates  channels  on  the 
west  and  north  sides  of  the  bay  only, 
and  this  would  have  but  a  slight  effect 
upon  the  population  in  the  Fifth  Ward 
or  the  Rockaways.  The  estimated  popu- 
lation in  1950  of  this  zone  is  as  follows: 

Twenty-sixth  Ward,  Brooklyn   420,000 

Half  of  Twenty-ninth  Ward,  Brooklyn..  187,500 

Thirty-second   Ward.    Eroolclyn   190,000 

Two-thirds  of  Fourth  Ward.  Queens...  480,000 

Total   1,277,600 

The  total  population  then  of  these 
wards  will  amount  to  1,277,500  or  about 
one-quarter  of  the  entire  population  of 
Brooklyn,  plus  the  population  of  Ja- 
maica. This  large  number  or  high  ratio 
is  due  to  the  great  acreage  of  these  wards 
since  the  above-mentioned  Brooklyn 
wards  taken  together  form  forty-two  per 
cent,  of  the  entire  acreage  of  the  Bor- 
ough of  Brooklyn,  while  the  Town  of  Ja- 
maica, now  the  Fourth  Ward  in  Queens, 
constitutes  thirty  per  cent,  of  the  total 
area  of  the  Borough  of  Queens.  If  we 
now  suppose  that  the  waterfront  of  Ja- 
maica Bay  is  in  the  future  to  take  care 
of  a  foreign  tonnage  proportional  to  the 
population  of  these  wards,  then  applying 
the  unit  6  arrived  at  in  a  previous  section 
and  a  population  of  1,277,500,  we  will  note 
that  the  foreign  tonnage  to  be  taken  care 
of  in  1930  will  amount  to  approximately 
7,665,000.  That  none  of  these  figures  are 
small  will  be  admitted,  we  think,  when  it 
is  remembered  that  a  tonnage  of  this  size 
is  almost  equal  to  the  total  tonnage  of 
the  entire  harbor  of  the  city  of  San 
Francisco  at  the  present  time,  and  is 
equal  aleo  to  forty  per  cent,  of  the  total 
foreign  tonnage  of  the  whole  port  of  New 
York  in  1905.  We  might  here  add  also 
that  the  allowances  for  population  ap- 
peared to  be  extremely  liberal  and  that 
this  so  appears  from  the  fact  that  the 
present  density  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Ward 
is  below  25  per  acre,  while  the  estimated 
density  for  1950  is  74.  The  present  den- 
sity of  the  Twenty-ninth  Ward  is  18  per 
acre,  while  the  estimated  density  for 
1950  is  99.  The  present  density  of  the 
Thirty-second  Ward  is  2V£  per  acre,  while 
the  estimated  density  for  1950  is  23.  In 
like  manner  the  present  density  of  the 
Fourth  Ward,  Queens,  is  now  2V>  per 
acre,  while  the  estimated  density  for  1950 
is  31.  notwithstanding  its  great  area  of 
23,000  acres.  As  a  means  of  comparison 
so  that  a  full  appreciation  of  the  signifi- 
cance of  what  this  density  means  may  be 
had,  we  may  state  that  the  present  den- 
sity of  the  Twenty-second  Ward,  Brook- 
lyn, is  about  55.  and  that  of  the  Eighth 
Ward,  Brooklyn,  35.  The  two  assembly 
districts  immediately  adjoining  Central 
Park  on  the  west,  while  they  may  be  re- 
garded as  residential  districts,  are  close- 
ly built  up.  as  is  well  known,  and  yet 
have  densities,  respectively,  of  108  and 

If  the  foreign  tonnage  of  Manhattan 
alone  is  assumed  to  be  one-half  the  total 
of  the  whole  port,  it  would  amount  now 
to  about  12,500,000  or  but  IY2  times  that 
we  have  assumed  for  Jamaica  Bay  In 
1950;  certainly  a  liberal  allowance.  The 
next  step  is  to  apply  to  this  estimated 
foreign  tonnage  (7,665,000)  a  proper  unit 
amount  of  wharf  length  as  heretofore  de- 
termined, namely,  one  foot  for  each  one 


'JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


29 


hundred  and  fifty  tons  of  foreign  business. 

This  unit  figure  of  intensity  of  tonnage, 
it  is  to  be  remembered,  has  reference  to 
tons  of  two  thousand  pounds,  or  in  other 
words,  to  cargo  or  freight  tonnage, 
while  the  foreign  tonnage  estimated  for 
Jamaica  Bay  in  1950  is  net  registered  ton- 
nage. It  becomes  necessary,  therefore, 
before  making  application  of  the  rule  to 
apply  a  correction  to  the  estimated  for- 
eign business  so  as  to  express  it  in  terms 
of  freight  tons. 

For  1908  the  foreign  or  net  registered 
tonnage  for  the  port  of  New  York  is 
given  in  the  United  States  Statistical  Ab- 
stract as  24,094,744  tons,  whereas  in  the 
report  of  the  chief  of  engineers,  1909,  ap- 
pendix P,  page  1,094,  the  total  imports 
and  exports  of  the  port  for  the  same  year 
(1908)  are  stated  as  12,541,419  tons.  The 
freight  tonnage  of  the  port  of  New  York 
therefore  constitutes  but  fifty-two  pei 
cent,  of  the  net  registered  tonnage.  This 
is  a  low  ratio  as  compared  with  most 
ports  and  is  due  perhaps  to  the  presence 
in  this  harbor  of  so  many  large  passenger 
vessels  which  have  a  very  high  registered 
tonnage,  but  which,  owing  to  their  size, 
are  obliged  to  travel  frequently  with  par- 
tial cargoes.  For  our  purpose  it  is  safer, 
therefore,  to  take  a  figure  arrived  at  by 
J.  Krauss  after  an  exhaustive  examina- 
tion of  many  of  the  harbors  of  the  world, 
namely,  0.65.  If  now  we  apply  this  rat'o 
to  the  foreign  trade  estimated  for  Ja- 
maica Bay  in  1950  or  7,665,000  tons,  we 
will  find  that  the  weight  of  material  to 
be  taken  care  of  on  the  wharves  will  be 
that  figure  multiplied  by  .65  or  4.982,000 
tons.  It  is  to  this  figure  that  we  must 
apply  the  unit  of  wharf  length.  It  will 
be  found  that  33,200  linear  feet  of  wharf 
will  be  required. 

From  the  southeast  corner  of  Barren 
Island  to  Cornell's  Creek,  the  actual 
frontage  avaMable,  using  only'  the  main 
tu'khead  and  no  basins,  amounts  to  45,000 
linear  feet.  It  is,  however,  unlike- 
ly that  the  fc*^--  will  develop 
along  these  lines,  and  that  after  a 
time  demands  will  be  made  for  greater 
wharfage  length  in  a  more  concen- 
trated section  necessitating  the  use  of 
piers.  Since  the  general  plan  as  at  pres- 
ent offered  is  able  to  provide  for  piers  at 
least  1,000  feet  long  depending  upon 
whether  or  not  they  are  placed  at  right 
angles  to  the  shore  or  bulkhead,  the  shore 
front  between  the  points  mentioned  is  ca- 
pable of  providing  at  the  very  lowest  cal- 
culation four  times  as  much  wharf  room 
as  the  actual  distance  between  the  ex- 
treme points  would  indicate.  In  other 
words,  it  is  able  to  produce  four  times 
45,000  or  180,000  linear  feet  of  wharfage, 
and  this  length,  as  can  readily  be  seen, 
is  equal  to  nearly  five  times  that  which 
would  seem  to  be  required.  The  same 
method  of  computation  applied  between 
the  southeast  corner  of  Barren  Island  and 
Spring  Creek  gives  the  following: 

Linear 
Feet. 

Distance  required    33,200 

Wharfage    available    along  main 

bulkhead    ••••   28.000 

Wharfage  available,  using  piers..  112,000 

This  112,000  linear  feet  is  equivalent  to 
more  than  three  times  that  which  appears 
to  be  actually  necessary  to  do  the  work 
required. 

This  is  true  as  to  actual  distance  re- 
quired for  all  the  purposes  of  commerce 
up  to  the  year  1950.  It  would  seem  more 
desirable,  however,  not  to  make  the  de- 
velopment begin  at  Barren  Island  and 
extend  continuously  around  the  bay, 
thereby  keeping  Queens  Borough,  and 
particularly  Jamaica,  waiting,  but  rather 
to  select  some  point — say  at  Fresh'  Creek 
Basin— and  make  the  improvement  grow 
both  ways  from  this  point  as  a  center. 
In  this  way  immediate  demands  would  be 
at  once  satisfied,  the  improvement  would 
at  all  times  grow  not  only  with  the  pop- 
ulation, but  likewise  in  the  direction  in 
which  the  latter  grows,  and  would  be, 
therefore,  a  logical  growth.  While  not 
essential,  it  is  interesting  to  know  just 


what  frontage  will  be  taken  up  in  this 
manner.  With  33,200  linear  feet  required, 
and  assuming  the  erection  of  piers  as  fast 
as  needed,  the  actual  frontage  in  use 
would  be  33,200  divided  by  four,  which  is 
equal  to  8,300  linear  feet,  or,  using  Fresh 
Creek  Basin  as  a  center,  the  improve- 
ment would,  in  1950,  range  from  a  point 
about  3,000  feet  west  of  Fresh  Creek 
Basin  to  a  point  near  Spring  Creek  Basin. 

As  time  goes  on,  local  causes  may  de- 
mand that,  instead  of  being  entirely  con- 
centrated, the  development  of  the  bay  be 
scattered  so  that  it  seems  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  there  will  be  some  improve- 
ment on  the  line  joining  Barren  Island  to 
Bergen  Beach;  some  at  the  mouth  of 
each  basin  emptying  into  the  bay,  and 
the  great  mass  of  the  business  concen- 
trated near  the  point  we  have  designated. 

In  all  the  foregoing  we  have  purposely 
kept  out  of  consideration  the  immense 
frontage  available  in  the  basins.  There 
are  six  of  these  planned,  and  the  aggre- 
gate wharfage  provided  amounts  to  75,000 
linear  feet.  We  have  excluded  this  for 
the  reason  that  in  our  calculations  to  de- 
termine the  wharfage  required,  we  used 
only  foreign  tonnage,  and  as  the  coast- 
wise and  domestic  commerce  will  be  con- 
siderable we  have  left  the  basins  avail- 
able so  as  to  provide  for  this,  not  that 
we  anticipate  the  entire  foreign  tonnage 
will  of  necessity  be  concentrated  on  the 
exterior  wharves  while  the  domestic 
commerce  will  use  the  basins,  but  merely 
for  the  purpose  of  assuring  ourselves 
that  taking  basins  and  main  bulkhead  to- 
gether we  would  have  sufficient  room  in 
the  present  plan  to  provide  berths  for  all 
the  shipping  that  any  man  can  at  this 
time  assume  will  be  done  in  Jamaica  Bay- 
in  1950.  If  provision  can  be  made  for  the 
estimated  foreign  tonnage  for  1950  along 
the  main  waterfront  between  a  point 
3,000  feet  west  of  Fresh  Creek-  Basin  and 
a  point  just  east  of  Spring  Creek  Basin, 
as  has  already  been  demonstrated,  we  be- 
lieve that  these  two  basins  with  the  aid 
of  Paerdegat  with  their  combined  wharf- 
age length  of  46,000  feet  and  a  capacity 
of  over  7,000,000  tons,  can  readily  provide 
all  the  accommodation  necessary  for  do- 
mestic commerce  for  the  next  forty  years. 

We  have  indicated  above  how  unnec- 
essary it  is  for  the  city  to  immediately 
enrry  out  the  total  improvement  shown 
on  the  map  accompanying  the  report  of 
Colonel  Knight,  namely,  from  the  south- 
east corner  of  Barren  Island  to  Cornell's 
Creek.  We  shall  now  attempt  to  esti- 
mate what  this  improvement  would  cost 
The  City  of  New  York.  The  plan,  it  must 
be  remembered,  calls  for  a  500-foot  chan- 
nel 18  feet  deep,  this  to  lie  outside  of  a 
pierhead  line,  which  is  1,000  feet  away 
from  the  line  of  solid  filling.  Later 
the  channel  is  to  be  widened  to  1.000 
feet  and  deepened  to  thirty  feet.  The 
increase  in  width  will  naturally  be  on  the 
side  farthest  removed  from  the  shore  It 
follows,  therefore,  that  the  city  must,  in 
order  to  utilize  its  bulkhead  and  water- 
front, excavate  the  intermediate  portion 
lying  between  the  inside  of  the  channel 
and  the  bulkhead  line,  and  this  should 
approximate  a  depth  equal  to  the  prelim- 
inary 500-foot  wide  channel.  When  the 
commerce  of  the  harbor  has  so  grown  as 
to  necessitate  increasing  the  size  of  the 
main  channel,  then  it  is  quite  likely  that 
piers  will  be  demanded  and  that  it  will 
only  be  necessary  to  deepen  to  thirty  feet 
that  portion  inside  the  pier  line  which  is 
between  piers.  It  was  with  this  assump- 
tion that  the  estimate  was  prepared.  It 
follows,  therefore,  that  the  city's  expense 
for  this  enterprise  would  be  as  follows: 
Main    channel.   59,000,000  cubic  yards 

(Colonel  Knight's  report),  at  2  cents  $1,180,000 
Excavation    between     bulkhead  and 

pierhead    lines,    estimated  28,000,000 

cubic  yards,  at  10  cents   2,S00,000 

Deepening   between     piers,  12,200,000 

cubic  yards,  at  10  cents   1,220,000 

Excavating  basins,     13,700,000  cubic 

yards,  at  10  cents    1,370,00..' 

Land   necessary   to   be  purchased  to 

retain  all  filling,  3,000  acres  at  $1,000 

per  ocre    3,000,000 


Bulkhead,  120,000  linear  feet,  at  $50....  6,000,000 

On©  hundred  piers,  1,000  feet  by  130 
feet,  15,000,000  square  feet,  at  $1.25..  18,750,000 

Sheds  for  same,  15,000,000  square  feet, 
at  W    15.000,000 

Curbi,  sidewalks,  pavements,  local 
sewers,  water  mains.  4,500  acres,  at 
$2,400  per  acre    10,800,000 

Contingencies    3,000,000 

Total   $63,120,000 

We  have  not  included  in  the  above  esti- 
mate the  loss  due  to  receipts  from  taxes 
due  to  the  city  taking  over  the  lands  to 
be  filled  since  this  item,  while  considera- 
ble, is  difficult  to  ascertain  and  bears 
but  a  small  ratio  to  the  estimate  of  cost 
for  improvement  and  development  given 
above.  When  it  is  remebered  that  this 
sum  of  money,  $63,120,000  is  equal  to  the 
entire  amount  spent  for  like  purposes  by 
the  Department  of  Docks  and  Ferries 
throughout  the  entire  city  since  its  crea- 
tion in  1870,  it  is  not  hard  to  believe  that 
no  such  sum  of  money  will  find  its  way 
into  Jamaica  Eay  in  any  like  period  of 
time.  We  have  introduced  it  merely  for 
the  purpose  of  calling  attention  to  and 
emphasizing  the  great  extent  and  capaci- 
ty of  Jamaica  Bay  and  to  show  that  its 
development  will  necessarily  be  a  work 
of  time.  Jamaica  Bay  will  grow  like 
other  places  of  a  like  nature  have  grown 
in  the  past,  slowly  and  steadily.  It  is 
sound  municipal  policy  to  help  its  prog- 
ress the  same  as  it  would  be  to  help  any 
other  part  of  the  water  front  in  order  that 
commerce,  shipping  and  manufacturing 
may  be  encouraged  within  the  city's 
limits. 

Before  giving  the  details  of  the  plan  of 
improvement  proposed  in  this  report, 
we  shall  attempt  to  show  that  in  the 
early  development  of  the  waterfront  of 
Jamaica  Bay  it  is  more  economical  for 
the  city  to  utilize  the  main  bulkhead  for 
wharf  purposes  rather  than  to  make 
use  of  piers.  In  doing  this  we  are  to 
remember  that  if  the  pier  method  is 
adopted,  the  commerce  naturally  will  be 
more  concentrated  and  in  consequence 
less  actual  waterfront  will  be  necessary, 
less  land  developed  and  less  main  chan- 
nel required. 

For  the  purpose  of  making  a  compar- 
ative estimate  of  the  cost  of  the  devel- 
opment by  each  method,  and  the  returns 
therefrom,  we  have  selected  as  the  most 
promising  site  for  the  improvement  that 
portion  of  the  waterfront  lying  on  both, 
sides  of  Fresh  Creek  Basin.  Assuming 
that  8,000  linear  feet  of  wharf  will  be 
required,  it  will  readily  be  seen  that  two 
piers  on  either  side  of  the  basin,  each 
being  150  feet  wide  with  a  slip  350  feet 
wide  intervening  will  be  necessary.  This 
plan  will  utilize  about  900  feet  of  main 
frontage  on  both  the  east  and  west  sides 
of  the  basin  and  will  cause  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  excavation  to  be  made  in  the 
basin  itself  a  development  of  about  600 
acres  of  land.  By  the  second  method 
that  without  piers  8,000  running  feet  of 
bulkhead  will  be  necessary,  one-quarter 
of  which  will  be  to  the  west  of  Fresh 
Creek  and  the  balance  to  the  eastward. 
The  acreage  reclaimed  under  this  plan 
including  that  due  to  the  dredging  from 
the  basin  will  approximate  800  acres.  i 

Below  will  be  found  a  comparative  «s- 
timate  based  upon  the  foregoing  as- 
sumptions. We  may  add  that  in  the 
preparation  of  the  estimates  very  liber- 
al allowances  were  made  in  favor  of  the 
pier  method,  since  if  we  had  adhered  to 
a  very  strict  analysis  of  the  problem  a 
smaller  area  of  fully  developed  territory 
would  have  resulted  in  this  case.  As  it 
was  somewhat  difficult  to  assume  any  set 
of  conditions  which  would  have  precisely 
satisfied  both  methods,  it  was  thought 
safer  to  give  the  benefit  of  whatever 
doubts  we  had  to  what  was  thought  to 
be  the  less  profitable  plan. 

The  object  of  making  the  comparative 
statement  presented  was  merely  for  the 
purpose  of  convincing  ourselves  which  of 
the  two  was  the  proper  plan  to  pursue 
in  the  early  stages  of  development.  It 
»?:  .       from  the  fig.. res  submitted  that 


30 


JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


Be  no  doubt  as  to  which  course 
it  will  pay  the  city  to  follow.  With  the 
use  of  piers,  the  net  return  is  the  dif- 
ference between  6.85  per  cent.,  the  gross 
income,  and  4  per  cent.,  the  usual  in- 
terest paid  by  the  city  on  its  bonds,  or 
2. So  per  cent.,  while  without  piers  and 
using  only  the  bulkhead,  the  net  return 
is  4.2  per  cent.  These  figures  indicate 
that  by  building  piers  the  yearly  loss 
would  be  about  1.35  per  cent,  upon  a  total 
investment  of  approximately  $5,000,000, 
or  $67,500  yearly.  Expressed  in  still  an- 
other way  the  bulkhead  plan  is  one  and 
one-half  times  more  profitable  than  the 
one  employing  piers.  It  is  true,  as  we 
have  already  said,  that  future  conditions 
may  ariso  which  will  demand  the  con- 
struction of  piers,  but  until  such  neces- 
sity is  demonstrated,  or  until  deeper 
water  is  demanded,  we  unhesitatingly 
recommend  that  bulkheads  only  be  util- 
ized, thereby  bringing  into  requisition  a 
greater  length  of  waterfront  and  a  larger 
area  of  development. 

COM  PA  RATI  A  E  ESTIMATE  OP  COST 
OF  IMPROVING  PART  OF  THE 
SHOrtE  FRO\T  OF  JAMAICA  BAY 
IN  THE  VICINITY  OF  FRESH 
CREEK  BASIN. 

(a)  Cains  Bulkhead  and  Piers  on  the 
Main  Front  and  Bulkhead  only  in 
the  Basin. 

500  foot  channel  approach  between  a 
point  2,000  feet  west  of  Fresh  Creek, 
and  a  point  900  feet  west  of  Fresh 

Creek,  406,300  cubic  yards,  at  2c   $8,100 

Excavating  000  foot  channel  in  front 
of  development,   7S6.000  cubic  yards, 

at  2c   15,700 

Excavation  between  bulkhead  and  pier- 
head in  front  of  development,  1,400,- 

000  yards,  at  10c   140,000 

Excavation.    Fresh    Creek    Basin,  3,- 

577,000  cubic  yards,  at  10c   357,700 

Bulkhead,  19.800  linear  feet,  at  $50   990,000 

Land   to  be  purchased,   575  acres,  at 

$1,000    575,000 

Land  to  be  developed,  605  acres,  at 
$2,400    1,452.000 

Four  piers.  600.000  square  feet,  at  J1.25  .  750,000 

Sheds  for  same,  600,000  square  feet, 

at  SI    600.000 

Total   J4.SSS.50O 

Of  the  605  acres  developed  flbove. 
all  but  400  acres  will  lie  in  a  system  of 
streets. 

Of  these  400  acres,  we  have  set  aside  a 
6trip  100  feet  wide,  running  entirely 
around  the  waterfront  of  the  bay  and 
basin,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the 
greatest  possible  return  upon  the  water- 
front. Thi6  strip  comprises  40  acres.  Be- 
low follows  an  estimate  of  the  probable 
return  upon  this  developed  land,  assum- 
ing that  it  is  not  sold  but  leased: 

Strip  consisting  of  40  acres,  leaving  out 
streets,  which  intersect  same.  3,790,000 
square  feet,  at  10c.  per  sq.  ft.  per 

year    $179,000 

Balance  of  tract  coosistlng  of  360  acres, 

or  6,300  lots,  at  525  per  lot  per  year....  157,500 

Total  return  upon  an  investment  of 

$4,888,000    $336,500 

Or  a  gross  return  of  6.8S  per  cent. 

(b)   Bulkheads  Only  Tbroushont. 

600  loot  channel,  in  front  of  develop- 
ment. 3,000.000  cu.  yds.  at  2c   $60,000 

Excavation  between  bulkhead  and  pier- 
head. 6.000.000  cu.  yds.  at  10c  J...  600.000 

Excavation.  Fresh  Creek  Basin.  3,577,- 

000  cu.  yds.,  at  10c   357,700 

Bulkhead,  26,000  feet,  at  $50   1,300,000 

Sheds,  8,000  ft.  by  75  ft.,  or  600,000  sq. 

ft.,  at  $1    600,000 

Land   to   be  purchaEC'1.   671  acres,  at 

$1,000    671,000 

Land  to  be  developed,  S03    acres,  at 

$2,400    1.927.210 

Total  IMuiSw 


An  Bstimate  of  the  Return  I'pon  the 
Investment  Follows. 

2,336,000  sq.  ft.  comprised  In  a  strip  100 
feet  wide  along  the  entire  water- 
front, at  10c.  per  sq.  ft.,  per  year....  $233,800 

500  acres,  exclusive  of  street  system 
and  excluding  also  strip  referred  to 
above;  equivalent  to  8,750  lots,  at  $-'5 
per  lot    218,750 


Dredging,  Fresh  Creek  Basin.  It  <*at 

deep,  3,500.000  cubic  yards  at  10c  

Timber   and    concrete  bulkhead 
around  Fresh  Creek  Basin: 

4.200  linear  feet  at  $65  $273, 000 

18,600  linear  feet  at  $35    651.000 


924,0 


Total  income    $452,350 

Or  a  grosB  return  of  8.2  per  cent. 


MAPS    VXD  PLANS. 

It  is  proposed  to  develop  fully  a  tract 
of  land  approximately  625  acres  in  extent 
lying  in  the  vicinity  of  Fresh  Creek 
Basin.  To  do  this  it  will  be  necessary  to 
dredge  out  the  entire  basin  as  well 
that  portion  of  the  bay  itself  which  lies 
immediately  in  front  of  the  proposed  iin 
provement,  the  width  of  the  strip  to  be 
bo  dredged  including  the  500  feet  wide 
channel  proposed  in  the  tentative  agree- 
ment betweeu  the  War  Department  and 
this  commission  being  1,500  feet.  From 
Barren  Island  to  the  site  of  the  proposed 
development  the  500  foot  channel  will 
have  to  be  excavated  to  provide  a  proper 
approach.  All  dredging  is  to  be  carried 
to  a  depth  of  18  feet  at  mean  low  water, 
and  all  material  dredged  is  to  be  de- 
posited upon  the  land  side  of  the  bulk- 
head line  and  is  to  be  used  in  reclaiming 
the  adjacent  marsh  land  and  land  under 
water.  To  properly  retain  this  filling  it 
Is  suggested  that  a  substantia)  bulkhead 
be  built  entirely  around  Fresh  Creek 
Basin  and  along  the  Jamaica  Bay  front 
for  a  distance  of  2,910  feet  west  of  Fresh 
Creek  Basin  and  for  about  1,400  feet  east 
thereof.  The  grade  to  which  the  filling 
will  be  brought  is  to  conform  to  the  re- 
quirements of  the  Highway,  Sewer  and 
Dock  departments  of  the  city. 

That  portion  of  the  waterfront  which 
lies  between  Barren  Island  and  the  west- 
erly end  of  the  proposed  developed  por- 
tion of  the  bay  will  not,  in  our  opinion, 
require  anything  in  the  shape  of  per- 
manent bulkhead,  since  it  is  extremely 
doubtful,  for  reasons  already  stated,  if 
much  use  will  be  made  of  this  section  for 
many  years.  It  is  merely  for  the  purpose 
of  reducing  the  cost  of  the  dredging  and 
of  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the 
tentative  agreement  referred  to  above 
that  it  appears  necessary  at  this  time  to 
provide  a  strip  of  land  and  land  under 
water  to  receive  the  dredged  material  to 
be  excavated  from  the  500  foot  channel 
in  this  neighborhood.  It  is  probable  that 
the  material  removed  by  suction  dredge 
could  be  heaped  up  along  the  bulkhead 
line  in  such  a  way  as  to  serve  as  a  re 
tcining  structure  for  the  balance  of  the 
fill,  but  we  have  thought  it  wiser  in  pre 
paring  the  estimate  of  cost  to  include 
a  sufficient  amount  to  cover  the  expense 
of  constructing  a  rip-rap  wall  from  Bar- 
ren Island  to  Canarsie  Park,  and  so 
placed  as  to  serve  as  an  essential  part 
of  a  more  permanent  structure  to  be 
built  when  necessary.  This  wall  can  be 
placed  in  a  dredged  trench  so  as  to  be 
secure  against  being  pushed  out  of  line 
and  so  as  not  to  require  any  change 
whatsoever  when  the  permanent  bulk- 
head is  built. 


ESTIMATE  OF  COST  OF  1XITIAL 
IMPROVEMENT. 

Dredging  500-feet  wide  channel  approach 
18  feet  deep,  allowing  one  foot  for 
over-depth  and  side  elopes  of  one  on 
three,  and  including  portion  in  front 
of  proposed  improvement,  8.000  000 
cubic  yards  at  2c.    (city's  share  of 


17,000  linear  feet  of  rip-rap  wall  from 
Barren  Island  to  west  side  of  pro- 
posed improvement,  but  excluding 
certain  portions  already  improved  by 
individuals,  10  cubic  yards  per  running 
foot,  or  170,000  cubic  yards  at  75c.  per 
cubic  yards    127,500 

Purchasing  570  acres  of  marsh  land  at 
$1,000  per  acre    570,000 

Developing  with  pavements,  curbs, 
sidewalks,  sewers  and  water  mains, 
6:5  acres  at  $.'.400    1,500,000 


Total   

Engineering,  contingencies. 


.$4,107,0% 


Premising  between  bulkhead  and  pier- 
head lines  IS  feet  deep,  with  allowance 
for  one  foot  over-depth  and  including 
portion  in  front  of  Fresh  Creek  Basin, 
2.«IV\'VC9  cubic  yards  at  10c  


If  we  deduct  from  the  cost  of  the  land, 
which  would  in  all  probability  prove 
profitable  to  the  city  whether  the  chan- 
nel was  dredged  or  not,  the  cost  of  actu- 
•  improving  the  site  which  we  have 
„.„jussed  would  be  $3,341,500  plus  the  en- 
gineering and  contingency  expense,  bring- 
ing the  cost  up  to  about  $3,500,000.  Tbi» 
figure  closely  agrees  with  thai  which  we 
assumed  at  the  outset  would  be  a  iair 
and  prudent  Investment  by  the  cLy  until 
such  time  as  the  commercial  practicabn- 
itv  of  the  enterprise  was  proven,  and 
until  it  can  be  scown  that  the  entrance 
to  Rockawav  Inlet  can  be  maintained  at 
reasonable  cost.  It  will  be  remarked 
also  that  by  appropriating  this  amount 
of  monev,  the  City  of  New  York  indi- 
cates its  intention  to  become  a  partner 
vith  the  Federal  Government  in  carrying 
on  the  improvement  of  Jamaica  Bay. 

We  are  convinced  that  the  city  will  bt> 
able  to  obtain  a  fair  return  upon  an  in- 
vestment of  this  kind.  In  order  to  dem- 
onstrate this  we  have  prepared  the  fol- 
lowing estimate  of  the  probable  returns 
from  the  investment.  In  the  preparation 
of  this  we  have  assumed  that  a  strip  o. 
land  100  feet  in  width  lying  imme- 
diately- adjacent  to  the  bulkhead  is  t» 
far  the  most  attractive  to  lessees, 
and  that  a  low  rent?!  for  such  property 
would  be  at  the  rate  of  ten  cents  per 
square  foot  annually.  In  all  other  parts 
ol  one  cent  per  square  foot,  or,  in  other 
that  a  fair  rental  would  be  at  the  rate 
of  one  cent  per  square  ioot,  or,  in  other 
words,  that  a  man  leasing  a  single  lot 
25  feet  bv  100  would  pay  The  City  of  New 
York  $25°pcr  year.  We  have  also  estimated 
that  of  the  entire  acreage  one-third  will 
be  required  for  streets  so  that  we  have 
only  figured  on  12  lots  per  acre  for  the 
entire  acreage  in  calculating  the  return 
received  from  all  sources.  Based  upon 
these  assumptions  the  following  seems  to 
ba  a  fair  and  impartial  estimate  of  what 
the  city  may  expect  from  the  complete 
development  of  this  particular  site: 
100  feet  wide  strip  along  the  entire 
waterfront  of  22,000  feet,  but  deducting 
an  amount  equal  to  the  aggregate 
widths  of  all  streets  intersecting  the 
same,  or  L9S8.O00  square  feet,  at  10c. 

per  square  foot,  per  year   $193,900 

Balance  of  tract  consisting  of  360  acres.  ,- 
includmg  streets,  but  allowing  12  lots 
per  acre,  gives  6,900,  which  at  $25  per 

lot  returns    172,500 

Total  revenue   $370,500 

Since  the  total  cost  of  the  improve- 
ment, including  the  land,  is  $4,107,000.  we 
can  readily  see  that  the  gross  return  up- 
ca  the  investment  to  the  city  will  be  9 
per  cent.,  Or  a  net  profit  when  the  land 
is  in  complete  use  of  about  5  per  cent. 

The  direct  return  to  the  city,  however, 
is  the  least  part  of  the  financial  advan- 
tage' resulting  from  the  improvements 
outlined.  The  real  benefit  accrues  to  the 
merchant,  manufacturer,  dealer,  or,  in 
other  words,  to  the  consumer. 

We  have  taken  the  trouble  to  compare 
the  freight  rat»s  upon  a  ton  of  cement 
from  th?  LehUh  Valley  Cement  district 


'JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


31 


to  Canaxsie  landing  by  water  and  by  the 
present  means  of  transportation.  The  re- 
sult of  this  Inquiry  appears  from  the  fol- 
lowing 

Cost  of  one  barrel  of  cement  from  the 
Lehigh  Valley  section  to  Canarsie  Land- 
ing is    11-45 

Cost  of  same,  f.  o.  b.  cars  of  the  Long 
Island  It.  R.  to  the  nearest  point  in 
East  .Vew  York  is    1.53 

Bavins  by  water    $0.08 

If  we  assume  five  barrels  to  the  ton, 
the  total  saving  would  be  forty  cents. 
It  is  of  course  true  that  the  savings 
upon  other  commodities  may  not  be  so 
large  as  this,  but  we  believe  that  it  is 
not  unfair  to  suppose  that  a  saving  of 
twenty-five  cents  per  ton  could  be  ef- 
fected by  the  improvement.  As  we  have 
estimated  the  total  tonnage  of  the  dis- 
trict tributary  to  Jamaica  Bay  at  the 
present  time  to  be  about  2.000.000  tons, 
it  is  not  difficult  to  believe  that  the  sav- 
ing to  the  consumer  would  be  con- 
siderable. 


SUMMARY. 


The  conclusions  whieli  the  commission 
have  reached  in  regard  to  the  improve- 
ment and  development  of  Jamaica  Bay 
may  te  briefly  summed  up  as  follows: 

First — That  the  growth  of  the  port  of 
New  York  warrants  and  justifies  a  sub-  I  wi 

stant  tal  improvement  of  Jamaica  Bay.  .  |         ^'Ckstot  the  cast  side  of  Fresh 

Second— Thar,  any  such  improvement  of  j 
the  bay  should,  however,  be  carried 


Sixth— That  manufacturing  will  increase 
in  proportion  to  the  growth  in  popula- 
tion and  may  possibly  assist  advances 
in  this  direction. 

In  view  of  the  above,  it  is  recom- 
mended: , 

1.  That  the  City  of  New  York  proceed 
with  the  improvement  of  Jamaica  Bay- 
along  the  lines  suggested  herewith  as 
soon  as  appropriations  for  the  said  im- 
provement are  made  by  the  City  of  New 
York  and  by  tie  Federal  Government. 

2  That  physical  improvements  be  com- 
menced which  shall  cost,  when  complete, 
$3,500,000. 

3  That  such  lands  as  are  necessary  to 
satisfv  the  requirements  of  the  initial 
improvement,  as  more  particularly  out- 
lined in  the  nest  paragraph  and  as  given 
in  dPtr.il  in  the  body  of  the  report  be 
acauired  bv  condemnation  or  purchase 
oefore  beginning  physical  improvement, , 
and  that  such  other  lands  as  are .  re- 
quired to  retain  dredgings  Tan 
ous  channel  extensions  should  be  ac- 
cuired  in  the  same  manner 
or  before  such  necessity  arises 
able  terms  can  be  secured. 

4  That  the  $3,300,000  recommended  <o 
be  anpropriated  for  the  physical  improve- 
ment should  be  used  in  the  following 

m(a?eTo  defray  city's  share  of  the  cost 
of  dredging  an  approach  channel  18  feet 
deep  at  mean  tow  water 


,-h  'n  needed 
favor- 


500  feet 

from" the  southeast  corner  of  Bar- 
Mar-d,  north  and  east  to  a  point 


Creek  Basin.  ,    _  , 

(to  To  dredge  all  of  the  Fresh  Creek 
Basin  to  a  depth  of  18  feet  at  mean  low 

i  ^IS*'  To  build  a  substantial  bulkhead 
SSL** U«td  A  of  the  Fresh  Creek  Basin  and 
aent  _suggestea  |       J        ^  Bay  frQnt  fQr  p  dlstance  0f 

2  910  feet  to  the  west  and  for  a  distance 
of  1.400  feet   to  the  east  of   the  said 


cautiously  until  the  success  attending 
the  Federal  engineers'  efforts  to  improve 
and  maintain  an  entrance  channel 
through  Rockaway  Inlet  is 

Third-rThat  the  improve  

herewith  should  be  carried  on  at  the|on  faina 
same  time  and  not  before  the  dredging 
of  the  inlet  channel. 

Fourth— That  the  real  and  substantial  |  Pasjn 
benefit  to  be  derived  during  the  first  ten 

or  fifteen  years  following  the  dredging;  -~-  -rtf  f"  t  deep  from  Barren  Island, 
of  Uu  preliminary  inside  channel  will  JW^J  ^st  to  the  beginning  of  the 
result  from  the  means  afforded  of  cheap-  ^  ana  *™]ote  initial  improvement, 
ly  supplying  building  material  and  sup-  |  *  all   the  same  to  constitute  a 

plies  to  the  territory  immediately  adja-  » ■>  >P  »P  *         finished  bulkhead  when 
cent  to  the  bay,  and  in  this  manner  not  :  Portion  Of   ^  n 
merely  assisting  in  but  actually  promot-  j  flatter 

'"Fu  n-That  ' growth  in  population  thus  (e)  To  dredge  space  between  bulk- 
stimulated  will  continue  to  increase  at  head  and  pierhead     »«  depth  of 

a  rate  much  greater  than  the  average   IS   feet   at  low  water  wherever 

ary;?r  ihe  city  or  o£  tbe  Borou6h  of  i  ^s&s^s^  ms*  curbs, 


(d)  To  build,  if  found  necessary  to  re- 
tain filling  from  500  foot  wide  approach 
cha 


pavements,  local  sewers,  water  mains, 
etc.,  about  625  acres  of  land  lying  ad- 
jacent to  Fresh  Crook  Basin  as  indicated 
upon  the  plan  herewith  submitted. 

5.  That  when  the  commerce  of  the  bar 
shall  require  it,  the  500  foot  wide  chan- 
nel is  to  be  extended  easterly  beyond  the 
easterly  point  mentioned  in  4(a),  but  that 
no  such  extension  shall  be  inaugurated 
until  the  above  outlined  improvements 
shown  on  the  map  referred  to  in  4(f) 
have  been  completed. 

6.  That  inasmuch  as  the  legislative  act 
(passed  May  29,  1909),  whereby  the  State 
of  New  York  grants  to  the  City  of  New 
>ork  such  right,  title  and  interest  as  it 
may  have  in  and  to  the  land  under  water 
in  Jamaica  Bay,  does  not  become  opera- 
tive until  the  United  Ctates  Government 
makes  its  first  appropriation  for  the  im- 
provement of  the  bay.  or  until  the  City 
of  New  York  sets  aside  not  less  than 
$1,000,000  for  the  same  purpose,  y0ur 
board,  to  take  advantage  of  the  terms 
of  this  act,  should  at  its  earliest  con- 
venience set  aside  $1,000,000  for  the  im- 
provement. 

7.  That  as  soon  thereafter  as  possible, 
the  balance  of  the  $3,500,000  should  be 
appropriated  in  order  that  the  Secretary 
of  War,  if  he  so  desires,  may  report  that 
the  City  of  New  York  is  ready  to  per- 
form its  part  of  the  initiatory  work  called 
for  in  his  report  of  February  26,  1909.  as 
well  as  to  give  the  committee  of  Con- 
gress an  opportunity  to  incorporate  an 
adequate  appropriation  in  the  river  and 
harbor  bill  of  this  session. 

S.  That  the  harbor  lines,  as  indicated 
and  as  located  by  rectangular  co-ordin- 
ates on  the  plan  shown  on  Plates  III  and 
IV,  should  be  adopted,  but  that  a  slight 
change  in  the  bulkhead  line  at  the  north- 
erly part  of  the  bay  and  also  in  the 
location  of  Spring  Creek  Basin,  seem* 
desirable,  as  explained  in  the  body  of 
the  report.  This  change,  however,  can- 
not he  made  until  more  precise  data  as 
to  the  street  system  is  obtained. 

9.  That,  if  the  Barge  Canal  Terminal 
Commission,  upon  completing  its  investi- 
gations and  studies,  decides  that  the 
prospective  business  of  the  canal  war- 
rants the  selection  of  Jamaica  Bay  as  a 
terminal,  the  city  should  afford  the 
aforesaid  commission  every  opportunity 
for  the  establishment  of  sneb  a  terminal. 
Respectfully  submitted. 

PHILIP  P.  FARMJT,  « 
JOHN  J.  McL-ATJGHLW, 

Commissioners. 


Extracts  From  Minority  Report, 

Jamaica  Bay  Commission 


DREDGING  .VXD  FILLING.  | 

The  character  of  the  bottom  of  Jamaica  j 
Bay  generally  and  the  ease  with  which  1 
the  sand  may  be  transferred  compara- 
tively  long  distances  to  lowlands,  make  | 
the  dual  achievement  of  creating  chan- 
nels and  reclaiming  land  there  a  most 
economical  one. 

It  has  been  found  necessary  to  build  I 
around  parts  of  Manhattan  massive  and 
costly  sea  walls,  which  would  not  be  the  1 
caso  in  this  bay,  a  very  much  lighter  and  j 
less  costly  structure  answering  almost 
every  requirement. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  relative 
cost  of  some  of  these  sea  walls  and  of 
dredging  channels  per  unit  of  frontage: 


Average  cost  per  running  foot,  includ- 
ing general  charges,  of  sea  walls  in  Man- 


(11  Rock  bottom  type   $307.00 

(2)  Firm  or  hard  bottom  type    396.00 

(3)  Relieving  platform  type    49^.3" 

U)  Average  of  the  three  types   364.77 

Let  us  compare  this  with  cost  of  dredg- 
ing in  Jamaica  Bay: 

(5)  The  cost  per  running  foot  for  dredg- 
ing a  channel  2.000  feet  wide  and 
30  feet  deep  (allowing  for  no  pre- 
viously existing  channel  whatever), 
at  12  cents  per  yard   $266.67 

The  length  of  sea  wall  about  Manhattan 

exceeds  31,000  feet.   Were  the  total  cost  of 


this  sea  wall  applied  to  the  proposed  im- 
provement in  Jamaica  Bay,  it  would  prob- 
ablv  pay  for  putting  in  an  adequate  bulk- 
head and  dredging  a  zone  2,000  feet  wide 
outside  of  it  to  a  depth  of  thirty  feet  all 
the  way  from  Barren  Island  around  the 
■•mainland"  to  the  trestle  of  the  Long 
Island  Railroad,  aa  approximately  equal 
distance,  besides  the  reclamation  of  sev- 
eral thousand  acres  of  adjoining  meadow 
land. 

It  is  particularly  fortunate  that  not 
only  can  an  immense  amount  of  dredging 
be  gotten  rid  of  on  the  lowlands  close  at 
hand  at  perhaps  one-third  of  what  tin 
cost  would  be  were  the  lowlands  not 
there,  but  that  tbe  lowlands  positively 
need  these  dredgings  to  bring  them  into 
a  sta'c  of  productiveness,  and  the  cost  of 


32 


'JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


reclaiming  them  by  dredglngs  from  the 
proposed  channels  is  less  than  one-third 
of  what  it  would  be  were  the  channel  not 
to  be  made., 

Under  such  circumstances,  fill  being 
absolutely  necessary  and  dredging  being 
the  cheapest  way  of  providing  it,  Irre- 
spective of  any  connection  with  naviga- 
tion, the  depth  to  which  the  channels 
may  be  made  for  navigation  is  only  re- 
stricted to  that  at  which  the  centrifugal 
pumps  can  work  effectively. 

Depth  of  channels  means  increased 
availibility.  It  not  only  gives  access  to 
freight  carriers  which  can  through  the 
economies  of  their  great  capacity  trans- 
port commodities  at  a  minimum  of  cost, 
thereby  lowering  through  competition  the 
standard  rates  to  and  from  the  port,  buc 
it  gives  a  distinct  trade  advantage  over 
rival  ports  which  are  unable  through 
lack  of  water  to  harbor  these  low-rate 
producing  vessels.  The  encouragement 
of  the  type  of  vessels  of  great  carrying 
capacity,  but  relatively  low  speed,  would 
trend  toward  the  attainment  of  the  low 
freight  charges  so  necessary  to  the 
growth  of  a  port. 

The  cargo  of  a  tramp  ship  not  infre- 
quently includes  the  product  of  15,000 
acres  of  average  wheat  land,  or  the  cot- 
ton yielded  by  twice  that  area,  and  it 
would  take  two  such  cargoes  to  fill  the 
hold  of  one  of  the  larger  freight  liners. 
A  larger  cargo  means  a  greater  amount 
of  freight  carried,  or  an  increased  oppor- 
tunity to  lower  rates  in  bidding  for  busi- 
ness— or  it  may  be  both  of  these  advan- 
tages. A  vessel  carrying  250,000  bushels 
of  grain  earns  $3,000  more  than  a  vessel 
whose  capacity  is  limited  to  200,000  bush- 
els, assuming  the  rate  to  be  six  cents 
per  bushel  on  each,  or  on  a  cargo  of 
20,000  bales  of  cotton,  a  ship  receives 
$10,000  freight  in  excess  of  another  ship 
which  carries  only  15,000  bales,  assuming 
the  rate  to  be  $2  per  bale. 

Within  very  recent  years  there  has 
been  a  considerable  change  in  the  thought 
as  to  the  desirable  length  of  piers,  and 
the  tendency  has  been  to  lengthen  them 
where  the  location  of  the  pier  line  would 
permit.  Notable  examples  of  long  piers 
are  those  in  the  Chelsea  district  (800  and 
825  feet),  Manhattan;  the  Bush  docks 
(1,300  to  1,400  feet),  in  South  Brooklyn 
already  constructed,  and  the  ones  more 
recently  planned  by  the  Department 
of  Docks  and  Ferries,  also  In  South 
Brooklyn. 

In  the  writer's  opinion,  a  desirable  dis- 
tance between  the  actual  (physical)  bulk- 
head and  the  pier  line  would  be  1,000 
feet.  This  will  allow  for  the  berthing 
of  single  vessels  of  great  size,  or  through 
use  of  the  diagonal  system,  as  recom- 
mended in  the  first  report,  the  berthing 
of  two  or  more  moderately  large  vessels 
on  one  side  of  a  pier  1,400  feet  long. 

The  economy  of  space  is  the  same  in 
the  cases  of  the  rectangular  and  diagonal 
pier  systems,  though  the  facility  of  en- 
trance to  ships  in  favor  of  the  latter,  and 
as  it  Is  impossible  to  foretell  to  what 
maximum  lengths  the  vessels  of  the  fu- 
ture may  go,  the  writer  recommends  that 
the  diagonal  system  be  adopted  through- 
out, particularly  so  since  a  change  to 
It  later  on  would  be  difficult. 

While  the  immediate  demands  of  the 
bay  will  not  require  any  such  length  of 
piers,  the  establishing  of  such  a  pier  line 
does  not  prohibit  or  restrict  the  use  of 
short  piers  at  the  present  time,  and  it 
does  provide  a  probable  safeguard  against 
the  repetition  of  an  occurrence  like  that 
in  the  Chelsea  district. 

It  will  be  Interesting  to  note  the  fol- 
lowing table  given  by  Sidney  Willett 
Hoag,  jr.,  in  his  paper  read  before  the 
Municipal  Engineers  Club,  referred  to 
elsewhere,  as  to  percentage  of  wharfage 
devoted  to  different  uses  along  parts  of 
the  North  and  East  rivers.    Mr.  Hwg'o 


statement  of  these  percentages  may  be 
taken  as  standard: 


o  S3  «  to  _ 

I.  Foreign  steamship  service           1.0  0.1 

TT.  Domestic  steamship  service  11.1  32 

III.  Gen.  &  miscellaneous  commerce.38.4  i6-3 

IV.  Railroad  business   31.0  5.0 

V.  Special  kinds  of  commerce. ......  5.0  2.8 

VI.  Ferries                                           6.4  6.6 

VII.  City  Departments                        1.1  C.6 

VIII.  Unimproved                                   0.  16  9 

Taking  the  average  total  net  increase 
of  wharfage  for  New  York  City,  given  by 
the  Newark  commission  (page  10  in  their 
report),  as  15,000  per  annum,  there  would 
be  required  over  600,000  linear  feet  of 
new  wharfage  by  1950  for  the  use  of  all 
activities,  while  the  rate  of  net  new 
wharfage  as  shown  by  the  records  of 
our  own  Department  of  Docks  and  Fer- 
ries for  the  past  seven  years,  during 
which  accurate  data  has  been  collated,  is 
17,867  feet  (approximating  three  and  one- 
third  miles)  annually,  or  over  700,000  feet 
(over  130  miles)  additional  for  1950. 

This  cannot  possibly  be  cared  for  with- 
out a  very  material  development  of  Ja- 
maica Bay. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
mammoth  high  efficiency  piers  now  being 
built  in  the  present  port,  resembling  in 
a  way  the  skyscraping  office  buildings  of 
the  downtown  sections  of  Manhattan, 
did  not  come  with  the  early  development 
of  the  port.  They  came  only  after  the 
frontage  values  had  become  enormous, 
and  to  accommodate  a  specific  class  of 
trade;  just  as  the  skyscrapers  came  when 
the  land  areas  became  extremely  expen- 
sive and  the  demand  for  concentration  of 
business  offices  about  the  financial  center 
made  them  a  necessity. 

The  development  of  Jamaica  Bay  will 
not  begin  with  the  introduction  of  Chel- 
sea piers,  nor  Hudson  Terminal  build- 
ings. On  the  contrary,  it  will  start  in  all 
probability  with  accommodations  in  keep- 
ing with  an  eighteen  foot  channel  at  mean 
low  water.  It  will  be  a  distributing  point 
for  all  kinds  of  materials  needed  in  the 
building  up  of  the  adjacent  interior  ter- 
ritory; it  will  furnish  the  sites  for  in- 
dustrial enterprises,  including  those  for 
the  manufacture  of  commodities  where 
the  raw  material  and  finished  product? 
may  have  an  opportunity  for 'transporta- 
tion by  water  and  rail  alike;  it  will  sup- 
ply, in  addition  to  wharfage,  spaces 
where  for  the  time  being,  at  any  rate, 
large  areas  will  be  required. 

As  time  goes  on  the  development  will 
be  on  a  higher  commercial  plane,  and  it 
may  be  that  some  day  some  of  the  first 
enterprises  will  have  to  give  way  to 
strictly  commercial  projects.  However 
this  may  be,  however  uncertain  the  de- 
tails of  the  future  progress  may  be,  or 
how  impossible  it  may  be  to  predict  with 
any  degree  of  certainty  the  wharfage  re- 
quired by  1950,  we  may  rest  assured  that 
it  will  be  a  wise  thing  to  allow  plenty  of 
room  now,  and  to  plan  with  a  wide 
enough  margin  to  permit,  if  possible,  the 
installation  of  the  things  most  desirable 
in  the  practice  of  that  time. 

BARGE   CANAL  TERMINAL 

The  State  of  New  York  has  undertaken 
the  deepening  of  the  Erie  Canal  so  that 
barges  of  large  size  may  navigate  be- 
tween the  Great  Lakes  and  the  seaboard. 
The  advantage  to  be  derived  will  be  the 
reduction  in  cost  of  transportation  due  to 
the  economies  of  administration.  It  is 
probable  that  barges  of  six  times  the 
carrying  capacity  of  the  present  ones 
will  be  brought  into  use.  As  the  labor 
and  subsistence  charges  for  these  barges 
will  not  be  materially  increased,  the 
total  fixed  charges,  including  fuel.  re- 
pairs, insurance  upon  vessels  and  upon 
cargoes,  interest  on  investment,  sinking 
fund  and  miscellaneous  items,  will  be 
a'cowi  doubled,  while  the  carrying  capac- 


ity through  Increased  tonnage  and 
greater  number  of  round  trips  may  be 

multiplied  by  eight. 

The  estimated  cost  of  the  enlarged 
canal  is  one  hundred  and  one  million 
($101,000,000)  dollars. 

Its  low  freight  rates  will  undoubtedly 
bring  to  New  York  many  millions  of  tons 
of  commodities  for  home  consumption 
and  domestic  and  foreign  export  that 
would  be  excluded  from  the  market  en- 
tirely, or  would  find  an  outlet  through 
another  channel. 

In  his  last  report  the  writer  referred 
to  the  increase  in  commerce  of  New 
York  which  would  be  due  to  the  low 
rates  that  would  maintain  on  the  new 
barge  canal,  and  also  due  to  the  reduc- 
tion in  rail  rates  to  meet  them.  There 
seems  to  be  a  tendency  to  bring  about 
a  reorganization  of  the  methods  of  dis- 
tribution of  different  classes  of  freight 
between  the  rail  and  water  carriers. 

Even  should  the  enlarged  barge  canal 
prove  a  failure  (and  the  writer  does  not 
believe  it  will)  as  to  the  quantity  of 
freight  carried,  it  will  lower  in  any  event 
the  cost  of  transportation  to  and  from 
New  York,  and  will  induce  a  vast  amount 
of  additional  commerce  through  our 
port;  bringing  into  existence  also  com- 
modities the  manufacture  of  which  has 
heretofore  been  unremunerative  on  ac- 
count of  the  excessive  cost  of  shipment 
to  market. 

It  is  a  reasonable  assumption  in  the 
case  of  New  York  that  railroad  rates 
from  the  Northwest  will  be  lowered,  that 
railroads  will  do  a  larger  business,  and 
that  the  barge  canal  will  bring  millions 
of  tons  to  New  York  City  annually,  for 
local  consumption  and  for  trans-ship- 
ment. 

It  is  hardly  probable  that  it  will  be 
desirable  to  have  but  one  union  termi- 
nal as  a  distributing  center  for  this  en- 
tire barge  traffic,  as  this  would  necessi- 
tate in  many  cases  a  double  handling 
when  one  should  suffice,  particularly  so 
in  the  cases  of  commodities  for  local  con- 
sumption destined  for  widely  separated 
sections  of  the  city.  It  seems  probable 
that  there  will  be  more  than  one  ter- 
minal. 

There  is  a  class  of  freight  that  may  be 
treated  separately  and  handled  in  a 
separate  section;  this  is  shipments  in 
mass  of  commodities  between  the  Great 
Lakes  and  foreign  or  domestic  Atlantic 
ports.  In  the  opinion  of  the  writer 
parts  of  the  interior  of  Jamaica  Bay 
where  the  islands  now  exist  are  well 
adapted  for  such  a  center.  It  would  re- 
lieve the  Manhattan  and  Brooklyn  shore 
fronts  above  the  Narrows  of  the  addi- 
tional burden  of  supplying  wharfage  for 
tonnage  which  is  merely  in  transit  to 
other  ports,  and  it  would  leave  for  the 
commerce  requiring  it  the  portions  of 
Jamaica  Bay  better  situated  for  highly 
developed  railroad  connections. 

Such  location  would  permit  the  barge 
traffic  to  come  down  parallel  to  the  axis 
of  the  Hudson  River  and  Upper  Bay,  and 
the  additional  distance  (about  15  miles), 
would  be  but  a  small  percentage  of  the 
total  distance  between  the  lakes  and  the 
ocean. 

The  passage  from  the  Upper  Bay  to  Ja- 
maica Bay  could  be  effected  by  the  pres- 
ent Coney  Island  Channel,  and  need  in 
no  way  interfere  with  those  to  the  south- 
ward. 

While  the  passage  to  the  entrance  to 
Jamaica  Bay  will  be  at  times  rough,  it 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  refuse 
from  the  garbage  cans  of  New  York  is 
brought  to  Barren  Island  in  Jamaica  Bay 
on  relatively  small  deck  scows  (with  deck 
loads  averaging  350  tons),  and  during  the 
past  fourteen  years  the  disposal  company 
has  not  lost  as  many  days  on  account 
of  storms.  They  use  the  westerly  pas- 
sage at  Rockaway  Inlet,  an*  while  the 
entrance  to  the  proposed  new  passage  will 
be  somewhat  more  exposed,  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  canal  barges  of  the  future 
for  reasons  of  economy  will  exceed  1,000 


•JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


33 


tons  capacity.  In  any  event,  and  espe- 
cially should  the  smaller  sized  barges  be 
retained  to  any  extent,  the  building  of  a 
breakwater  from  Norton  Point,  Coney 
Island,  to  the  northwestward  across  the 
mouth  of  Gravesend  Bay  would  not  only 
give  them  ample  protection  during  heavy 
storms,  but  would  furnish  a  much-needed 
harbor  of  refuge  or  port  of  call  at  the 
southern  entrance  to  New  York,  and  fur- 
nish anchorage  ground  for  vessels  gen- 
erally, as  well  as  bring  Into  greater  use- 
fulness the  shores  of  Gravesend  Bay, 
parts  of  which  would  then  be  available 
as  a  relief  for  the  Upper  Bay  and  for 
certain  classes  of  barge  canal  traffic  not 
desired  in  Jamaica  Bay. 

Since  his,  appointment  to  the  Jamaica 
Bay  Improvement  Commission  the  writer 
has  made  two  trips  to  Europe,  during 
which  he  has  visited  and  inspected  most 
of  the  important  harbors  on  that  side, 
some  twenty-five  or  more.  Among  the 
notable  things  of  professional  interest 
was  the  wonderful  development  of  the 
barge  traffic  throughout  the  lowland 
countries  of  northwestern  Europe.  Most 
of  the  ports  in  this  section  are  at  con- 
siderable distance  from  the  sea  and  large 
parts  of  the  cargoes  are  transferred  di- 
rectly into  barges  of  1,000  tons  and  up- 
ward to  be  conveyed  still  farther  up 
the  rivers  and  well  into  the  interior. 

R.  M.  Hurd  states  most  concisely  a 
well  demonstrated  law: 

"Trade  routes,  the  lines  of  least  resist- 
ance between  the  source  of  products  and 
their  final  markets,  have  in  all  ages  lo- 
cated cities  at  the  points  where  the 
break  in  transportation  occurs." 

Should  the  interior  islands  of  Jamaica 
Bay  become  th°  situs  of  the  break  in 
transportation  of  the  water  trade  route 
connecting  our  great  lake  regions  and 
Europe,  a  gradual  but  extensive  develop- 
ment of  the  section  will  be  sure  to  fol- 
low, and  the  city  will  not  only  profit  by 
the  increment  in  land  values,  but  will  he 
able  to  provide  accommodations  for  ship- 
ping at  rates  low  enough  to  make  the 
port  attractive  to  commerce  generally. 

SUMMARY. 

The  following  ie  a  short  outline  of 
some  of  the  conditions  before  us: 

1.  In  a  comparatively  few  years  the 
natural  increase  in  commerce  will  have 
brought  into  demand  all  the  available 
water  front  of  the  present  Port  of  New 
York. 

2.  Before  this  occurs  the  small  supply 
for  largely  increased  demand  will  send 
the  prices  of  wharfage  up  beyond  a  rea- 
sonable rate. 

3.  Ths  will  drive  some  commerce  away 
to  ports  which  will  answer  the  purpose, 
but  where  the  charges  are  less. 

4.  In  the  meantime  some  new  com- 
merce will  still  come  and  pay  the  ad- 
vanced rates,  until  finally  all  the  room 
is  not  only  used  up,  but  some  of  it  doing 
double  duty. 

5.  After  that  new  commerce  must  go 
elsewhere. 

6.  Competing  ports  will  take  advan- 
tage of  the  situation  and  under  the  stim- 
ulus of  great  relative  advance  in  com- 
mercial prosperity  will  be  spurred  on 
to  making  their  localities  so  attractive 
that  they  will  draw  still  further  from 
New  York  commerce. 

7.  New  York,  having  come  to  a  stand- 
still while  the  rest  of  the  country  is  ad- 
vancing, will  lose  preetige  and  in  the 
course  of  time  suffer  very  seriously  in 
many  ways. 

8.  If,  however,  through  the  forethought 
of  the  Federal  and  City  Governments,  a 
place  can  be  r~;cured  which  will  answer 
as  a  place  for  overflow  commerce,  the 
situation  will  be  greatly  relieved.  If  at 
the  eame  time  such  a  place  should  be 
capable  of  large  ultimate  development 
upon  hroad  and  progressive  plans,  the  so- 
lution of  the  problem  will  be  well  in 
sight,  and  New  York  need  have  no  fear 
of  losing  her  supremacy  for  many  years 
to  come.  / 


9.  Jamaica  Bay  is  capable  of  adding  to 
the  harbor  of  New  York  over  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  (150)  miles  of  wharfage 
for  vessels,  as  well  as  providing  large 
areas  for  manufacturing,  warehousing, 
storage,   railroad  trackage,  etc. 

10.  It  will  be  several  hours  nearer 
Europe  than  the  present  port. 

11.  It  can  have  less  dangerous  channels. 

12.  It  can  be  made  to  a  large  degree 
the  terminus  of  the  new  1,000  ton  Barge 
Canal  when  completed. 

13.  It  can  become  a  center  for  certain 
kinds  of  trade  and  manufacture  without 
disturbing  the  interests  of  the  existing 
built-up  sections  of  the  Greater  New 
York. 

14.  It  ie  already  within  40  minutes  of 
downtown  Manhattan,  under  ordinary 
every  day  schedules. 

15.  The  cost  of  construction  will  be 
less  than  usual  about  New  York. 

16.  Its  development  will  reclaim  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  low  land,  making  them 
productive  where  they  are  now  of  little 
value. 

17.  The  existence  of  a  harbor  in  this 
vicinity  will  reduce  the  cost  of  many 
commodities  within  its  immediate  neigh- 
borhood. 

18.  It  will,  through  the  decreased 
freight  rates  and  hence  reduced  ulti- 
mate cost  of  building  materials,  result 
in  a  more  rapid  development  of  the  ad- 
Joining  interior. 

19.  It  should  reduce  the  cost  of  living. 

20.  It  should  also  give  active  employ- 
ment to  many  people. 

21.  It  can,  by  proper  arrangement  of 
railroad  systems,  in  advance,  be  placed 
in  direct  touch  with  the  interior  of  the 
United  States,  and  there  would  be  ample 
room  for  terminals. 

•22.  The  through-freight  rates  between 
the  interior  states  and  Jamaica  Bay  can 
most  probably  be  as  low  as  to  any  other 
part  of  New  York  City. 

23.  In  some  cases  the  shipments  be- 
tween it  and  the  West  can  be  even  cheap- 
er than  where  several  haulings  of  goods 
are  required,  as  now  in  particular  sec- 
tions of  New  York  City. 

24.  The  development  of  Jamaica  Bay 
section  will  provide  a  place  for  homes  of 
very  many  thousands  of  people  within  a 
short  radius  from  the  central  parts  of 
New  York  City. 

25.  The  development  of  the  bay  can  be 
made  for  many  millions  of  dollars  less 
for  the  advantages  to  be  gained  than 
would  be  required  in  any  other  available 
section  of  equal  size. 

26.  Unless  New  York  takes  up  this 
development  of  Jamaica  Bay  actively. 
New  Jersey  will  forestall  her  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  Newark  Meadows, 
where  several  of  the  great  railroads  al- 
ready have  their  termini. 

27.  The  City  of  Newark  proposes  a  vast 
development  of  the  meadows  adjacent  to 
her. 

28.  She  has  already  prepared  a  plan  for 
a  start,  and  has  appropriated  $1,000,000 
to  get  it  under  way. 

29.  Commerce  once  gained,  if  accom- 
panied with  inducements  equal  to  those 
of  other  ports,  generally  stays  through 
force  of  habit. 

30.  Commerce  once  lost  is  difficult  to 
regain. 

31.  If  New  Jersey  goes  ahead  of  us,  she 
will  get  for  her  citizens  the  wealth  and 
prosperity  attendant  upon  increased  com- 
merce—which the  citizens  of  New  York 
might  have  had. 


RECOMMENDATIONS. 

The  writer  would  recommend  an  expen- 
diture within  the  next  ten  years  of  ap- 
proximately $12,000,000  for  the  develop- 
ment and  control  of  the  waterfront  in 
Jamaica  Bay,  and  that  the  appropriations 
be  progressive. 

That  at  least  $1,000,000  be  appropriated 
and  set  aside  at  once,  to  comply  with  the 
provision  of  Chapter  568  of  the  Laws  of 
1909. 

That  a  total  of  $3,000,000  be  appropri- 
ated within  the  near  future  in  ample  time 


for  the  secretary  of  war,  if  he  so  desireB, 
to  report  that  the  City  of  New  York  Is 
ready  to  perform  her  part  of  the  initia- 
tory work  called  for  in  his  report  of  Feb- 
ruary 26,  1909;  as  well  as  to  give  the 
committees  of  Congress  an  opportunity  to 
incorporate  an  adequate  appropriation  in 
the  river  ai-d  harbor  bill  this  session. 

That  the  city  acquire  as  speedily  as 
practicable  all  of  the  desirable  meadow 
upland  needed  to  receive  the  material 
from  the  bay  to  be  dredged  to  a  depth 
of  18  feet  between  the  proposed  city 
bulkhead  line  and  the  outer  edge  of  the 
proposed  500-foot  channel,  and  from  the 
proposed  basins,  as  can  be  secured  at  a 
fair  price,  that  is,  the  entire  18-foot 
project. 

It  is  recommended  that  the  18-foot 
channel  bj  begun  as  soon  as  appropria- 
tions are  available  from  the  Federal  gov- 
ernment and  the  City  of  New  York,  and 
be  continued  progressively  until  comple- 
tion. 

That  after  the  city  shall  have  acquired 
the  necessary  upland,  one  or  more  of  the 
proposed  basins  with  its  immediate  vicin- 
ity be  connected  with  the  main  channel, 
and  developed  through  dredging,  bulk- 
heading,  grading,  constructing  streets, 
etc.,  so  as  to  be  able  to  receive  and 
handle  freight  to  the  best  advantage. 

That  thereafter  the  zone  between  the 
main  channel  and  the  city  bulkhead  be 
dredged  to  a  depth  of  18  feet. 

The  dredgings  from  the  channels  should 
be  placed  behind  either  temporary  rip- 
rap retaining  walls,  or  inexpensive  con- 
crete and  masonry  bulkheads;  the  former 
where  the  probable  use  of  the  upland 
would  be  more  remote,  and  the  latter 
within  the  zones  of  more  immediate 
utility. 

Assuming  2,500  acres  of  land  as  neces- 
sary to  receive  the  dredgings  to  a  depth 
of  18  feet  between  bulkhead  line  and  outer 
edge  of  500-foot  channel,  as  well  os  from 
the  basins,  at  the  high  figure  of  $1,000 
per  acre,  and  10  cents  per  cubic  yard,  the 
cost  assumed  by  the  majority  members 
of  the  commission;  the  cost  of  land, 
dredging  and  bulkheading  along  the  mala 
channel  would  be  as  follows: 

2,600  acres  of  land  at  $1,000  per  acre.  ,$2,600,000 

Dredging  600  foot  channel 
18  feet  deep,  16,500,000 
yards,  at  10  cents  $1,650,000 

Less  rebate    1,240,000 

  310,000 

Bulkheading  43.000  linear  feet  at  $60..  8,680,000 


Contingencies  and  administration....  423.000 

(1)  Cost  of  land  for  entire  18-foot 
project,  bulkheading  entire  front 
and  dredging  entire  600-foot  pre- 
liminary  channel    $5,819,400 

Suggested  allotment  to  go  to  dredg- 
ing and  high  development  of  one 

basin,  or  parts  of  two  or  more  basins  2,800,000 


(2)  Cost  of  land  for  entire  18-foot 
project,  dredging  entire  600-foot 
preliminary  channel,  and  partial 
high  development  of  one  or  more 
basins    $8,619,000 


Dredging  to  18  feet  beween 
500-foot  channel  and  bulk- 
head line,  27,800,000  yards, 
at  10  cents   $2,780,000 

Contingenclea  and  adminis- 
tration   139,000 

  2.019*000 

(3)  Cost  of  land  for  entire  18-foot 
project,  dredging  between  bulkhead 
and  outer  edge  of  500-foot  channel, 
and   partial   high  development  of 


one  or  more  basins   $11,633>08Q 

Approximate  allowance  for  buildlne» 
and  unforeseen  contingencies    462,D00 

Total  cost   $12,000,-001 

(4)  Proposition  No.  2,  by  using  a  rip- 
rap sea  wall,  costing  about  $7.50 
per  running  foot,  could  be  executed 
for.  in  round  numbers    $64*»^» 


Respectfully.        WILLIAM  G.  FORD, 
Consulting  Engineer,  Commissioner. 
New  York  City,  December  27,  _j 


34 


JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


FIRE  ESCAPES  RAILINGS  FRONT  ENTRANCE  DOORS 

822-832  LEXINGTON  AVE. 


Near  Broadway 


Telephone  1700  Bushwlck 


BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 


THE  DAILY  ISSUES 

OF 

THE  EAGLE 


THE  NEWS 

The  six  week-day  issues  of  the  Brooklyn  Eagle  rep- 
resent the  most  complete  afternoon  newspaper  pub- 
lished in  this  city.  You  can  find  more  news — of  more 
kinds — in  the  Daily  Eagle  than  anywhere  else.  The 
NEWS  is  what  you  want  FIRST.  You  get  that  in  the 
Eagle;  you  also  get  a  great  deal  more. 

EACH  DAY 

in  addition  to  the  above,  the  Eag'.e  has  a  wide  range 
of  features.    Here  is  a  schedule  of  some  of  them: 

MONDAY 

Two  pages  of  sermons.  Home  dressmaking  depart- 
ment. "Arabella  and  1"  stories.  Notes  of  the  Chil- 
dren's Department  Clubs. 

TUESDAY 

Review  of  all  the  new  attractions  in  Brooklyn  play- 
houses—Table and  Kitchen  Notes — Suggestions  for 
Club  Workers. 

WEDNESDAY 

Kate  Upson  Clark's  Talk  to  Women— Junior  Eagle  puz- 
zle solvers'  names— New  puzzle  club  members. 


EVERY  DAY 

the  Eagle  contains  special  features  of  interest  to  men, 
women  and  children.    For  instance,  here  are  some  de- 
partments you  will  find  EVERY  DAY: 
PICTURE  SECTION  I    WALKS  AND  TALKS 

WOMEN'S  DEPT.  CHILDREN'S  DEPT. 

QUESTIONS  ANSWERED      I  FICTION 
SCHOOLS  AND  COLLEGES 

THURSDAY 

Reports  of  work  done  by  Fresh  Air  Club  workers — 
Hints  for  amateur  milliners,  with  special  illustration. 

FRIDAY 

The  Jewish  Review— An  article  on  Beauty  and  Hygiene 
— Humane  Club  news,  ktters  from  members,  new 
members,  etc. 

SATURDAY 

News  of  Churches,  both  Catholic  and  Protestant— The 
Industrial  Age — The  weekly  real  estate  page — Reviews 
of  the  new  books — A  special  page  of  Long  Island 
news — Paper  doll  for  children— A  special  story  for 
children— News  of  women's  clubs — .Missionary  socie- 
ties and  W.  C.  T.  U.— Table  and  kitchen  notes. 


'JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


35 


The  Piano  Industry 

As  Exemplified  by 
THE  HOUSE  OF  WISSNER 

The  Wissner  Piano  Factory — one  of  the  largest  in  the  country — -is 
located  in  Brooklyn.  From  the  time  of  its  inception  the  Wissner  Piano 
has  been  a  piano  of  the  highest  class.  It  has  been  on  the  market  over 
thirty-one  years. 

Brooklyn  being  the  center  of  many  prominent  musical  institutions,  and 
the  home  of  countless  artists  of  note,  the  Wissner  Piano  had  natural 
advantages  which  brought  it  to  the  front  in  less  than  half  the  time 
taken  by  other  pianos. 

Before  being  on  the  market  ten  years,  its  exclusive  features  were  rec- 
ognized by  artists  and  musicians  of  repute.  Upon  the  completion  of 
the  WISSXER  ARTIST  UPRIGHT  GRAND  PIANO,  it  was  placed  be- 
fore a  congress  of  world  famous  musicians. 

They  were  astounded.  They  came  to  criticise — they  left  converts  all. 
The* Brooklyn  Daily  Eagle,  under  date  of  September  25th,  1909,  states: 

*  *  *  "Some  years  ago  Mr.  Wissner  made  himself  famous  throughout  the 
world  and  caused  the  wonderment  of  musicians  by  introducing  a  grand  piano  in 
upright  form,  upon  which  he  had  been  working  many  years.  A  grand  piano  in 
principle  of  construction  and  tone,  but  an  upright  in  form  and  size.  *  *  *  So 
great  has  been  the  demand  for  these  instruments  in  recent  years  that  it  has  be- 
come necessary  to  remove  to  larger  quarters  several  times.  *  *  *  To-day  it  is 
one  of  the  largest  and  most  important  piano  houses  in  the  United  States."  *  *  * 

Some  of  the  world's  greatest  musicians  have  made  their  initial  tour  and  incident- 
ally their  reputation  with  a  WISSNER  PIANO  as  an  accessory. 


WISSNER  WAREROOMS 


538-540  FULTON  STREET,  BROOKLYN 


36 


'JAMAICA    BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


Electro  Brick=Enameling 

Machine  Company 

INCORPORATED 

Offices:  120  Liberty  Street,  New  York. 


To  Builders  and  Contractors: 

We  have  just  received  an  offer  for  50  machines 
which  cost  about  $3,000  each  to  build,  and  rent  for 
about  $10,000  per  year  each.  This  is  almost  in- 
credible, but  we  can  prove  it.  The  offer  for  50 
machines  is  accompanied  by  a  bond  of  $25,000  as  a 
guarantee  that  these  machines  will  be  placed  as  fast  as 
we  can  build  them. 

For  the  purpose  of  building  machines  to  fill  our  first 
orders  we  offer  a  limited  amount  of  the  stock  of  this 
company  at  fifty  per  cent.,  price  to  advance  without  notice. 

This  machine  does  in  ONE  DAY  that  which 
takes  ALL  OTHERS  from  FOUR  to  SIX 
WEEKS  to  do,  and  we  do  it  much  better  at  about 

ONE-FOURTH  the  cost. 

This  machine  is  completed  and  now  running  and 
on  exhibition  at  our  showroom,  1 20  Liberty  street. 

Samples  of  enameling  done  by  our  machine  may 
be  seen  at  our  offices. 

For  further  particulars,  address 

G.  H.  Laporte,  Pres. 


JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


37 


Incidentally  We  Might  Mention 
the  Fact 

that  the  Private  Garage  saves  both 
in  quantity  and  price  of  Gasoline,  also 
Cost  of  Repairs,  and  they  are  ready  to 
erect  if  built  by  us.  That  saves  litter 
around  the  yard.  Then  when  the  Car 
is  housed,  No  Joy  Rides. 

Our  Cottages  are  Comfy.  Made  to  meet  all  the 
requirements,  and  a  Catalog  will  tell  you  just  how 
we  build  them,  and  the  styles  are  fully  illustrated. 

Springfield  Portable  House  Company 


784  Allen  St. 
Springfield,  Mass. 


Room  810 
World  Building,  New  York 


38 


JAMAICA'   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


ONE  PINT  OF  MILK  MERGED  INTO  ONE  POUND  OF 

BUTTER,  4  Cts.  Pound 


Saves 
Money 
for 

Every 
Family 


PRICE 

$5.00 


Paid  anyone  who  fails  to  merge  ONE  PINT  of  MILK  into 
one  Pound  of  Butter  in  two  minutes  with  this  machine. 
Producing  a  pure  food  product  that  gets  just  as  hard — 
looks  the  same  and  is  used  for  the  same  purposes  as 
Creamery  Butter.  No  chemicals  or  drugs  used.  4 
cents  a  pound;  think  what  this  saves  every  family  in 
one  year.  


GENTLEMEN— When  I  told  my  friends  that  I  had 
sent  for  a  machine  which  would  merge  one  pint  of 
milk  into  one  pound  of  butter,  producing  a  product 
healthy  and  pure  as  any  butter  fresh  from  the  churn, 
they  laughed  at  me.  In  a  few  days  the  Butter 
Merger  came,  when  it.  required  only  a  few  minutes 
to  produce  just  tvhat  I  had  told  them,  the 
machine  u-ould  do,  all  agreeing  with  me  that 
it  was  a  great  invention  and  wonderful  machine. 
We  urge  those  who  would  save  money  to  purchase 
one  of  these  Butter  Mergers. 

REV.  L.  C.  HAYES, 
24  Lucust  St.,  Norwich,  N.  T. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  30th  day 
of  Oct.,  1909.  NELSON    P.  BONNET, 

Notary  Public. 


AGENTS  WANTED.  Anyone  can  sell  this  machine.  Every 
family  will  buy  one.  PRICE,  $5.  Sold  on  payments,  $1.00  month- 
lv.  'Write  for  illustrated  circulars.  AGENTS'  TERMS  AND 
SWORN  TESTIMONIALS. 


Family  Butter  Merger  Co.,  38  Henry  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.Y. 


WM.  E.  HOU.IXiSWORTH,  Manager,       WM.  LOCKITT,  Treasurer. 
Estate  of  B.  C.  HOLLIAGSWORTH.  Office:  lOO  Seventh  Av. 
Telephone,  Prospect  So.  1. 
98,  100,  102,  104  Seventh  Av.  70S.  800,  802,  804,  806  &  SOS  Union  St. 


HOLLINGS  WORTH'S 

Boarding  and  Livery 
Stables 


ESTABLISHED  18" 


Seventh  Avenue,  Corner  of  Union  Street, 
Borough  of  Brooklyn,  New  York 


ESTABLISHED  1889 


TELEPHONE  CONNECTION 


The  Picture  Frame  Shop 

The  only  exclusive  Frame  Shop  in  Brooklyn.  Largest  line  of 
samples  and  ready-made  Frames  to  select  from.  Estimates 
on  Regilding  and  Restoring.    Prices  lowest  in  the  city. 

THE  PICTURE  FRAME  SHOP 

260  LIVINGSTON  STREET 


JAMAICA    BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


39 


I.F. 


AMERICAN  &  FOREIGN 
HIGH  CLASS 

OIL  PAINTINGS 

SIX-ONE-TWO  BEDFORD  AVE,, 

BROOKLYN,  X.  V. 


Paintings  by 

Carlton  T.  Chapman,  N.  A. 
Arthur  F.  Tait,  N.  A. 
Philip  Boileau,  New  York 
Wm.  Edgar  Marshall 

And  Others. 
Oeo.  H.  Story,  N.  A. 
E.  Munier,  Paris 
L.  Darey,  Paris 
Gustav  Brion,  Paris 
Max  Retore,  Paris 
C.  H.  Miller,  N.  A. 
Gilbert  Stuart 
Ralph  A.  Blake  lock 


'4 


H.  W.  FARADAY  CO. 

Invites  the  public  to  visit  their 

Art  Galleries  and  Picture  Framing  Departments 

Here  you  will  find  the  finest  and  largest 
Framing  Department  in  Brooklyn. 

wholesale   H.  W.  FARADAY  CO.,  170  FLATBUSH  AVE.  retail 


Trautman's  4  in  I  Anti-Skid  Covers 


(1)  PREVENTS  SKIDDING 
(2)  PUNCTURES 

(3)  BLOWOUTS  and 

(4)  WEAR  and  TEAR  ON  TIRE 


Patent  applied  for 

IRA  F.  TRAUTMAN,  131  Sixth  Avenue 

HEADQUARTERS  FOR  STEAM  VULCANIZING 

ALL  MAKES  OF 

FISK  AND  REPUBLIC  TIRES.  Automobile  Tires  Vulcanized  and  Recovered 

Try  Trautman's  Insid*  tj-«»  Protector.  Telephone  4529  Prospect 


40 


JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


Cte  Powell 
musical 
Institute 


and 

GRAND  OPERA  SCHOOL 

915   PRESIDENT  STREET 

Between  Eighth  Ave.  and  Prospect  Park  West 

ALMA  WEBSTER-POWELL  1  ^^^^r,r 

Directors      BROOKL  YN 

A.  JUDSON  POWELL  J 

TELEPHONE— 616  PROSPECT 


1  HARRY,  the  Coupon  King  j 

Highest  Prices  Paid  for  Your 
Coupons  and  Trading  Stamps 


i 


45  WILLOUGHBY  STREET 

|  BROOKLYN,  N.  Y.  | 

The  Merchants'  Go-operative  Mortgage  Go. 

CAPITAL,  $500,000 
Office,  391  Fulton  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Investments  in  Building  Loans,  Second  Mortgages  and  Real  Estate. 

The  Company  solicits  investments  in  its  6%  Mortgage  and  Real  Estate  Gold  Certificates  in 
amounts  of  $500.00  and  $1,000.00. 

Certificates  payable  in  10  years  or  before,  in  the  discretion  of  the  Company.  Interest  paid  by  coupon 
through  the  Broadway  Bank  in  February  and  July  of  every  year. 

Every  Certificate  is  issued  against  existing  mortgages  and  real  estate  owned  by  the  Company. 

None  But  Improved  Property  in  the  City  of  New  York  Is  Accepted. 


JAMAICA  BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


Telephone  Connection  Jobbing  Promptly  Attended  To 

SUNLIGHT  ELECTRIC  CO. 

GENERAL 

Electrical  Contractors 

LIGHTING  AND  POWER 

DEALERS  IN 

New  and  Second-Hand  Bells  and  Motors 

ALL  KINDS  OF  WIRING  DONE 

377  Jay  Street  9  Willoughby  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.Y. 

TUNGSTEN  FIXTURES  A  SPECIALTY.    Give  Us  a  Trial  and  Be  Convinced 

=1  1  ~    —  r     •  355955 

THE  ORDER  OF  THE  GOLDEN  SEAL 

HOME  OFFICE,  ROXBURY,  N.  Y.. 

closed  its  books  on  December  31,  1909,  with  assets  of  two  million  dollars.  This  order  lias  the 
largest  amount  of  assets  per  member  in  its  history.  Its  plans  combine  adequate  rates  with 
fraternal  methods  of  operation.  Rates  based  on  the  American  Experience  Table  with  three 
and  one-half  per  cent  interest,  collecting  sufficient  money  to  pay  all  losses  and  daims,  and 
accounting  to  its  members  and  refunding  to  them,  at  the  end  of  fixed  periods  of  time,  all 
excess  payments.    1910  will  be  even  better  than  1909. 

BROOKLYN  OFFICE:  H.  B.  CONLIN, 

215  Montague  Street  District  Supreme  Organizer 


"AT  YOUR  SERVICE" 

THE  BROOKLYN  VALET 

16c.  a  Garment 

Per  Yearly  Contract 

Your  Clothes  Cleaned,  Pressed  and  Repaired 
Called  for  and  Delivered        A  .  J  «g  g*g££  iJSSl 

„  ,    ,  TC  ^ 1 U1  C&  •  1  108  Montague  Street 

Telephone  2500  Prospect  I  1339  Bedford  Avenue 


42 


JAMAICA    BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


Main  Office  Telephone  Call  4172  Main 

THOMAS  G.  KNIGHT  COMPANY 

Factory,  Mill,  Plumbers', 
Steam  and  Gas  Fitters' 

Supplies  at  Wholesale 

WAREHOUSES:  OFFICE: 

364  Jay  Street  359  pearl  gtreet 

50  and  52  Myrtle  Avenue  t,       ,  ,     \^GT & 

359  Pearl  Street  Brooklyn,  ».¥. 


HAVE  YOUR  SUIT  STERILIZED 

We  have  installed  the  PARK  SLOPE  CLOTHES  PRESS, 

Pants      which  is  the  only  sanitary  method  of  pressing  known.    A  garment  Suit 

Sponged  that  passes  through  the  Park  Slope  Tailoring  Clothes  Press  is  dis-  Sponged 

and       infected,  as  no  germs  or  microbes  can  exist  under  a  temperature  as  and 

Pressed,   high  as  the  dry  steam.    It  raises  the  nap,  revives  the  color — in  fact,  Pressed, 

10c.       it  makes  old  suits  look  like  new  ones.  Tel.  Can,  30c, 

To  get  the  above  effect,  send  your  work  to  1726  South. 

THE  PARK  SLOPE  TAILORING  CO.,  167  Seventh  Av. 


MANUFACTURER   OF  THE 


Celebrated  Diamond  S.M.M.  Metal 

AND  SUPERIOR  LINOTYPE,  MONOTYPE,  COMPOSITYPE, 
STEREOTYPE,    ELECTROTYPE   AND   BABBITT  METALS 

Phone  4277  Main        363  Hudson  Avenue,  Brooklyn 


Jamaica:  bay  improvement, 


43 


TELEPHONE 
1085  BATH  BEACH 


NOTARY 
PUBLIC 


JOHN  P.  KIVLEN 

Real  Estate  and  Insurance 

15th  Ave.,  Cor.  70th  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.Y. 

Estates  Managed       Loans  Negotiated 
Renting  Collecting 

Special  Bargains  Large  Plots  in  Jamaica. 


A  RE  your  limbs  weak  and  painful,  the  veins  swollen  and  con- 
gested to  bursting— is  walking  a  torture? 

Those  are  the  symptoms  of  varicose  veins.  If  neglected 
they  will  develop  into  varicose  ulcers. 

Thousands  have  suffered  as  you  are  suffering.  Thousands 
have  found  instant  relief  and  a  permanent  checking  of  the 
disease  in 

DR,  MARSHALL'S  ELASTIC  STOCKINGS. 

PRICE  $2.00. 

Dr.  Marshall's  stockings  are  guaranteed  to  give  satisfaction 
or  your  money  will  be  cheerfully  refunded. 

We  fill  orders  by  mail  with  the  utmost  accuracy.  Our 
measuring  blanks  enable  you  to  get  as  perfect  a  fit  as  a  personal 
interview  with  Dr.  Marshall  would  give. 

Send  to-day  for  blanks  and  an  interesting  catalogue  of  our 
trusses,  elastic  bandages  and  sick  room  necessities.  Specialist's 
advice  free.    All  correspondence  in  plain  sealed  envelope. 


REMOVAL  NOTICE. 

We  beg  to  announce  the  removal 
of  our  truss  business  on  or  about 
May  1,  1910,  from  506  Fulton 
st„  to 

ROOM  416 
44  COURT  ST.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

And  we  trust  you  will  continue  to 
favor  us  with  your  valued  patron- 
age. 

MARSHALL  TRUSS  CO., 

44    COURT  ST. 

Room  416 — Temple  Bar  Building 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  C. 

BEST     ELEVATOR  SERVICE 
IN    GREATER    NEW  YORK. 
Phone  Connection. 


WE  RENT  CAMP  CHAIRS 


AND  CARD  TABLES 

And  Have  Something  NEW  to  Offer  VOUJn^^^\g£&         tt  Wfl^ 

BANQUET  ^^^f^^^ 
TABLES^-^a      .  .  o»\&  ^ 

UNDERTAKER 


EMBALMER 


PROMPT  AND  COURTEOUS  SERVICE  AT  CONSERVATIVE  PRICES 

OVER  30^YEARS  Behind  Our  Name  in  Brooklyn  MEANS  SOMETHING. 


44 


JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


Established  1843.  Tel.  136  Prospect. 

FREDERIC  RIKER., 

FurvereJ  Director. 


Holds  Licenses 
to  Practice 
in 

New  York 
and 

Adjoining  States. 


Particular 
Attention  Given 

to  Details  of 
Modern  Usages 

and 
Requirements. 


Undertakers  forwarding  bodies  to  Brooklyn  for  burial,  cremation  or  to  pass  through 
to  other  points  can  rely  on  their  patrons  receiving  prompt  attention,  if  sent  to  our  care. 
Wc  have  in  our  building  a  chapel  where  funeral  services  can  be  held  or  bodies  kept  when 
desired. 

130  SEVENTH  AVE.,  COR.  CARROLL  ST., 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


G.  P.  BRUSH  JR.&.BRO. 


YOUNG  MEN  AND  YOUNG  WOMEN  SHOULD  LEARN 

TELEGRAPHY 

Our  Practical  Practice  Key,  together  with  a  Copy  of  the  Morse 
Code,  Technical  Instructions,  etc.,  etc.,  will  be  sent 
prepaid  to  any  address  on  receipt  of  25c. 


THE  THOMAS  EDISON- JENNINGS  CO. 


Instrument  Manufacturers 


151,  153  and  155  West  22d  St.,  New  YorK 


JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


45 


R.  A.  BACHIA  y  CA. 


MANUFACTURERS  OF 

HAVANA 
CIGARS 

83  Walker  SI. 

NEW  YORK 


Our  Brand,  Renowned  for  Quality  and  Uniformity,  is  Stocked  by  the  Best  Clubs  and  Hotels, 


BUSHWICK  STORAGE  WAREHOUSES 


Telephone  615  Wmsbg. 

237-245  MESEROLE  STREET. 
238-252  SCHOLES  STREET. 

Fireproof 


FRESE  &  URFF, 

Props. 

Office:  239  MESEROLE  ST. 
BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

Storage 


Separate  Rooms  —  Clean,  Light,  Well  Ventilated  —  for  the  Storage  of  Furniture,  etc. 

Moving,  Boxing,  Packing  and  Shipping  a  Specialty. 

FIRST-CLASS  SERVICE.     REASONABLE  RATES 


Mothers!  Mothers!!  Mothers!!! 

Are  you  disturbed  at  night  and  broken  of  your  rest  by  l 
sick  child  suffering  and  crying  with  the  excruciating  pain  of 
Cutting  Teeth?   If  so,  go  at  once  and  get  a  bottle  of 

MRS.  WINSLOW'S 
SOOTHING  SYRUP 

It  will  relieve  the  poor  little  sufferer  immediately— de- 
pend upon  it:  there  is  no  mistake  about  It  There  Is  not  t 
mother  on  earth  who  has  ever  used  it,  who  will  not  tell  you 
at  once  that  it  will  regulate  the  bowels  and  give  rest  to  the 
mother,  and  relief  and  health  to  the  child,  operating  like 
magic  Pleasant  to  the  taste,  and  is  the  prescription  of  one 
of  the  oldest  and  best  female  physicians  and  nurses  In  ths 
United  States.   Sold  everywhere. 


46 


JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT, 


CHAS.  STREBEL  &  SONS 


|  Telephones  4247  BushwicK  | 

Architectural 

AND 

Structural 


IRON 
WORKS 


Shutters,  Railings,  Vault  Lights,  Window  Guards,  Etc. 
Steel  Beams,  Columns,  Girders,  Doors,  Fire  Escapes. 

ALL  SIZES  ANCHORS  AND  BRIDLE  IRONS  CONSTANTLY  ON  HAND 


andfwSIks:  1732=1734=1736  MYRTLE  AVE.,  J* 


BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 


BEST  YET 


STAR  SAFETY  RAZOR,  with  Forged  Blade,  in  Set,  $1,50  X 

Extra  Blades,  75c.  Each 

Star-Cru-Steel  Safety  Razor,  T2S2£\?t%5:  Set  $1.50  &  $3.50 

★ Extra  Blades,  50c.  per  Set  of  7  Blades 
Star  Convex  Flexible  Blade  Safety  Razor, 
Sets  $2.50  and  $3.50.    Extra  Blades,  7  for  50c. 
SOLD  BY  DEALERS,  OR 

KAMPFE  BROS.,  8  reade  st.,  new  york 


GEO.  J.  McFADDEN 

Kodaks  and  Athletic  Goods 

Largest  Stock  of 
PHOTO  MATERIALS  IN  BROOKLYN 

202  FLATBUSH  AVENUE  tel.  28i6  prospect 


JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


47 


Palms,  Vines  and  Fresh  Flowers 

Supplied  and  Artistically  Arranged  for  Weddings  at  Reasonable  Rates 


FLORAL 
DECORATIONS 
FOR 
ALL 
OCCASIONS 


PLANTS 
AND 
FLOWERS 
DELIVERED 
ANYWHERE 


Thirty-five  Greenhouses 

J.  CONDON,  HORTICULTURIST 
734  Fifth  Avenue 

Branches:  Fort  Hamilton  Parkway,  Gravesend  Av.,and  291-313  24th  St. 

TELEPHONES 27  South— 727  South. 
PLOTS  IN  GREENWOOD  CEMETERY  IMPROVED  AND  CARED  FOR. 


Hair  Dressing  Manicuring 

MRS.  TYLER  MILLER 

Importer  and  Manufacturer  of 

FINE  HAIR  GOODS 

New  Method  Shampooing  Scalp  Treatment 

80  Fleet  Street 

Second  Door  from  Fulton  Opposite  Loeser's 

Telephone  Call  1319  Main 


DR.  CHAS.  H.  SHEPARD'S 

TURKISH  BATHS 

Open  from  9  A.  M.  to  W  P.M.     gj   AND  g3  COLUMBIA  HEIGHTS 

7  Sc.    10  Tickets,  $6.00 


Send  10c  for  "Care  of  the  Body  by  Right  Living" 


I 


JAMAICA   BAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


EAGLE 
SAVINGS  AND  LOAN  CO. 


Capital  and  Surplus 
Over  $2,000,000.00 


Private  First  Mortgage  Loans 
on  Residential  Property 

Long  Term  Monthly  Payment 


PASS  BOOKS  ....  4  PER  CENT. 
CERTIFICATES  .  .  S  PER  CENT. 


186  Remsen  Street,  Brooklyn 


SEND  FOR  BOOKLET 


SOMERVILLE  PROPERTIES 
I  are  BOUGHT  and  SOLD  *RIGHT 


-y^  C^fVnP'V  Fvlrtn/J      ^est  a<^vert'sec^  seaside  resort  in  the  world.    Visited  by  millions  of  people 

M?  V^C/fltJJr  Mo  I  Ufl  C*«  annually.  All  advantages  of  the  city.    All  city  improvements,  with  subway 

«A  assured.    Lots  on  plot  bounded  by  West  31st  street  and  West  32d  street,  Atlantic  Ocean,  Gravesend 

2J  Bay,  for  sale,  also  on  West  33d  street.    Lots  $600.00  and  upward,  according  to  location. 


A  Yt)f>Yt\(>  Fifth  Ward,  Borough  of  Queens,  on  the  Rockaway  Coast,  the  best  located  sub- 
£Q  I/CIIIC*    urban  seaside  development  in  the  United  States,  on  the  ocean  and  bay.    Every  city 

improvement  and  convenience  and  absolutely  no  assessments.    Lots  $600.00  and  upward. 

IB      1  1        Just  over  the  line  in  Nassau  County.  Ten  minutes'  walk  from  Far  Rcckaway  Station, 

jtt  MliU/%JUU»  adj0ining  grounds  of  Inwood  Country  Club.  The  garden  spot  of  the  Rockaways.  Well 
€3  graded  streets;  cement  sidewalks  and  curbs,  sewer  drains,  light  and  water.  Prices  of  adjoining  lots  range 
jl     from  $1000.00  to  $3000.00.    Our  price,  $450.00. 

Pi  1\/trt^nt>th  ^n  Second  Ward,  Borough  of  Queens.  62  lots  belonging  to  the  Somerville 
IWMUofJCUl.  Estate>  on  tne  Nortn  Hempstead  Turnpike,  one  block  from  Grand  street.  Streets 

J«  laid  out  according  to  the  new  topographical  map  of  Queens.  In  the  midst  of  thriving  section,  increased 
values  assured.    Half  of  the  property  already  sold  to  residents  of  the  vicinity.     Lots  $400.00.  Some 

H  higher. 

LOTS  SOLD  ON  EASY  PAYMENTS.  Installment  contracts.  40  per  cent,  cash,  60  per  cent. 
£3    mortgage  for  3  years  at  6  per  cent. 

We  will  send  you  large  bird's-eye  view  and  fine  map  showing  location  of  our  properties  upon  request. 
€3    For  further  particulars,  inquire  of  your  own  broker,  or  address  the  Company. 

J&  NOTE— THE  SOMERVILLE  REALTY  COMPANY  require  the  services  of  efficient  sales 

agents. 

§    SOMERVILLE  REALTY  COMPANY,  192  Montague  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

eS    ARVERNE  OFFICE,  Remington  Avenue  and  Amstel  Boulevard. 

H    FAR  ROCKAWAY  OFFICE,  258  Central  Avenue. 

ft    INWOOD  OFFICE,  Bayswater  Boulevard  and  Solomon  Avenue. 


f 


& 


FI3HINO  IN  JAMAICA  BAT. 


ABSOLUTELY  FIREPROOF 


Long  Island  Storage 
Warehouses 


NOSTRAND  AND 
GATES  AVENUES 


Fireproof  Rooms  for  Household  Effects 
Safe  Deposit  Vaults       Vaults  for  Valuables 
House  to  House  Removals 

Vaults  for  Wedding  Presents  until  Bride  returns 


BRANCH  WAREHOUSES: 

Park  Ave.  and  Broadway 
Kent,  near  Flushing  Ave. 

CORRESPONDING  WAREHOUSES: 
Washington,  D.  C;  Baltimore,  Chicago, 
Denver,  St.  Louis,  London,  Paris,  Berlia 

Furniture  Boxed  and 
Shipped  to  any  part 
of  the  world  by  Van, 
Railroad  or  Steamship 


